tihvaty  of  Che  t:heolo0ical  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Richard   E.    Mercer,    Jr. 


3S5'30 
.945 


yCicnara  <JV.   >^rLercei,  j 


f        AUG    27  19 

SERVICE  ^ — 


UNDER  THE   COVENANT 


By  SIDNEY  PERLEY 


O  Salem,  let  your  children  live 
In  peace  the  world  can  never  give; 
The  peace  of  those  who  do  God's  will 
And  see  his  kingdom  coming  still. 
Alice  O.  Atwood 


salem,  mass. 

The  Eleanor  Press 

1921 


Newcomb  &  Gauss 
Printers 
Salem,  Mass. 


PREFACE 

This  little  book  is  the  result  of  an  examination  of  the 
Bible  to  learn,  if  possible,  the  purpose  of  the  whole  book, 
as  it  appeared  that  the  New  Testament  must  be  a  con- 
tinuation of  and  related  to  the  Old  Testament. 

Unaffected  by  sectarianism  and  conventional  influences, 
incidents  and  statements  and  apparent  teaching  which 
might  shed  light  upon  the  purpose  of  the  Supreme  Being 
in  his  treatment  of  mankind  were  noted;  and  it  soon 
appeared  that  it  was  to  bring  men  into  harmony  with 
himself  by  means  of  human  instruments,  which  would 
culminate  in  a  nation  whose  object  is  to  bless  the  world. 
Race  counts  for  little  in  its  constituency,  although  the 
promise  was  made  to  Abraham,  then  limited  to  Isaac, 
then  to  Jacob,  and  finally  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh. 
The  citizenship  of  the  new  nation  is  based  upon  spir- 
itual fitness. 

The  history  of  post-Bible  times  was  not  contemplated 
until  the  examination  of  the  Bible  was  completed,  and 
then  the  development  of  Christianity  in  subsequent  centu- 
ries naturally  followed.  Local  pride  must  not  be  charged 
to  the  writer  as  having  prejudiced  his  thought  or  pur- 
pose.    The  facts  of  history  can  be  readily  ascertained. 

The  main  reason  for  issuing  this  little  book  is  to  cause 
men  to  think,  as  to  themselves  and  others  personally,  and 
to  their  Father,  and  to  America.  The  subject  is  the 
greatest  in  the  world. 

Salem.  Mass.,  Oct.  28,  ig2i. 


SERVICE  UNDER  THE  COVENANT 


INTRODUCTION 

Despite  the  illimitation  that  we  give  to  the  range  of 
thought,  there  is  one  direction  at  least  where  it  is  power- 
less to  penetrate  the  wall  of  the  unknown  and,  at  least 
in  this  life,  the  unknowable,  and  learn  from  whence 
originated  all  things.  System  after  system  of  universes 
were  revealed  to  the  naked  eyes  of  the  ancients,  and 
telescopes  have  multiplied  their  number,  and  increasingly 
powerful  instruments  add  to  them  so  many  more  distant 
constellations  that  man  despairs  of  ever  learning  even 
their  number  or  whether  there  is  any  limitation  to  the 
grand  system,  or  what  are  the  boundaries  of  space. 

Thought  and  imagination  fail  to  comprehend  the  pos- 
sibilities and  probabilities  as  well  as  the  known  facts 
as  to  stellar  worlds.  It  is  apparent  that  they  are  not 
accidents,  but  for  innumerable  ages  have  been  pursuing 
their  courses  in  obedience  to  fixed  laws.  The  system  is 
so  great  and  grand  that  it  is  a  question  whether  we 
wonder  most  at  the  origin  of  the  universes  or  the  perfect 
laws  that  govern  them. 

There  must  have  been  a  beginning,  and  from  what  did 
this  matter  come?  There  is  never  a  suggestion  even  that 
there  was  any  other  material  thing,  and  in  this  again  is 
met  the  unknowable  idea  of  creation.  The  thought  of 
such  production  cannot  be  grasped.  Even  biology  must 
have  a  germ. 


The  power  or  being  that  thus  brought  such  great  aiul 
wonderful  things  into  existence  is  beyond  our  compre- 
hension. Whatever  it  was,  it  was  at  least  supreme,  not 
only  in  its  power  over  what  was  but  over  what  was  not, 
bringing  out  of  what  seems  to  be  not  existing  the  great 
universes  that  are. 

Calling  that  being  what  we  will,  thinking  of  it  as  we 
will,  we  cannot  get  away  from  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  not  only  powerful  but  conscious,  possessed  of  such 
a  vast  comprehension,  judgment  and  knowledge  that 
those  great  creations  were  not  cast  adrift  without  course 
or  rudder,  but  were  endued  within  themselves  with  natu- 
ral laws  and  orders  and  movements  that  would  suffice 
forever, — not  only  giving  them  longevity  but  enabling 
them  to  accomplish  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
created.  It  is  useless  to  consider  for  a  moment  that 
the  being  that  could  produce  such  things  was  simply 
capricious  and  had  no  purpose  in  doing  so. 

THE  BIBLE. 

The  book,  or  collection  of  books,  we  call  The  Bible, 
or  The  Holy  Bible,  treats  of  creation,  and  especially  of 
our  solar  system,  and  of  man  on  our  planet.  Whether 
life  in  any  form  exists  or  ever  did  exist  on  any  other 
sphere  is  not  suggested :  it  is  confined  strictly  to  the  earth 
and  to  man. 

Whatever  we  may  think,  rightly  or  wrongly,  about  the 
existence  of  a  supreme  being,  call  it  what  we  may,  any- 
one who  has  studied  The  Bible  must  be  convinced  that 
the  volume  is  a  unit,  and  that  the  history  and  suggestions 
it  purports  to  convey  indicate  a  master  mind  and  powder. 
It  reveals  to  the  untrammelled  student  a  plan  of  eternal 
significance,  covering  all  time  and  including  all  peoples, 
and  relating  to  the  broadest  physical,  intellectual  and 
spiritual  interests. 

The  Bible  is  a  wonderful  collection  of  records  and 


letters,  sometimes  evidencing  the  fallibility  of  the  human 
hand  and  head  which  committed  it  to  writing ;  but  under 
and  through  it  all  is  manifested  a  plain  and  godlike  pur- 
pose. 

The  authorship  of  mAich  of  it  is  in  doubt,  and  the  dates 
of  writing  are  only  approximate,  but  there  is  no  ques- 
tion that  it  purports  to  give  history,  of  the  kind  and  extent 
that  is  limited  to  its  general  subject.  In  several  places 
in  The  Bible  the  authors  give  reasons  for  writing  their 
portions  of  it,  which  are  simply  these,  that  man  should 
have  not  only  the  spiritual  admonitions  within  him,  but 
its  ocular  reminder^  through  written  history,  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  supreme  being  toward  man,  and  of  man  to 
man  in  the  past. 

god's  early  dealings  with  man. 

The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  purports  to  be  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  creation  of  the  earth  and  of  its  vegetable 
and  animal  life,  including  man.  Man  is  shown  here  to 
be  an  animal,  but  of  a  distinctive  kind.  God,  the  su- 
preme being,  it  is  alleged,  made  man  in  his  "image," 
after  his  "likeness,"  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  "life."  Man 
thus  became  a  "living  soul" ;  and  was  given  dominion 
over  earth's  living  things. 

Adam,  as  man  is  there  called,  is  represented  as  an 
earth-man,  and  yet  with  such  a  nature  that  he  can  intel- 
ligently associate  and  commune  with  his  maker.  The 
meaning  is  apparent  that  when  we  read  that  God  breathed 
into  him  the  breath  of  "life,"  man  was  made,  not  onlv 
"a  living  soul,"  but  one  in  the  image  or  likeness  of  God. 
It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  pursue  the  subject 
of  the  resemblances  between  God  and  man,  but  merely  to 
say  that  the  suggestion  is  that  man,  the  animal,  became 
endowed  with  the  attributes,  knowledge  and  power  of 


God,  not  only  lite  him,  but  an  actual  part  of  himself. 
It  was  God's  life  that  made  man  a  living  soul.  The 
significance  seems  to  be  that  every  one  descended  from 
Adam,  as  well  as  himself,  is  a  living  soul,  having  the 
life  and  attributes  of  God,  in  a  degree  that  even  the 
author  of  the  Pentateuch  hardly  apprehended, — a  rela- 
tionship that  can  never  be  destroyed  any  more  than  a 
natural  son  can  lose  that  relationship  to  his  natural 
father.  The  son  may  refuse  to  acknowledge  or  heed 
the  relationship  of  the  father,  but  the  fact  of  the  rela- 
tionship and  duty  remains. 

The  author  of  the  book  of  Genesis  describes  how  God 
gave  to  Adam  everything  that  was  needful  to  continue 
his  perfection.  The  writer  does  not  suggest  or  consider 
what  might  have  followed  if  this  innocent  life  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  had  continued ;  his  duty  was  to  record 
facts  as  to  him  they  seemed  to  have  occurred.  Specula- 
tion never  appears  in  The  Bible ;  and  the  statements  are 
brief  and  direct,  and  rarely  explanatory. 

THE   BREACH. 

There  came,  oh,  how  soon,  the  slight  breach  of  a 
command  which  seemed  of  little  consequence  to  the 
pair,  but  the  knowledge  that  they  had  been  disobedient 
estranged  them  from  their  great  and  loving  benefactor. 
When  the  hour  came  that  Adam  was  wont  to  be  at  ser- 
vice in  the  garden,  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  he  knew  that 
God  could  be  depended  upon  to  be  there,  and  instead 
of  coming  into  his  presence  gladly  both  Adam  and  Eve 
hid  themselves.  God  knew  the  estrangement,  and  in  a 
moment  the  idea  of  Eden  then  and  there  had  already 
vanished.  From  that  time  on,  man  has  tried  to  hide 
himself  from  the  omniscient  one.  Thus  is  the  meaning 
of  the  fall  expressed  in  Genesis.  Any  thing, — word  or 
deed  or  even  thought, — that  is  not  adjusted  to  that  of 
God  produces  estrangement  and  is  sin. 


Thenceforth,  men  would  not  toil  in  love,  but  nature 
even  would  seem  to  put  obstacles  in  their  way,  as  might 
be  imagined,  to  make  their  lot  harder.  Ah !  the  briars 
and  the  weeds  were  there  before, — but  what  were  such 
things  to  hearts  attuned  to  the  Infinite ! 

WITHOUT   LAW. 

Adam  and  Eve  had  failed  to  keep  from  the  breach 
of  the  one  little  prohibition,  of  which  they  would  not 
have  thought  for  a  moment  until  suggestion  came,  and 
uncertain  knowledge  and  ocular  demonstration  produced 
an  effect  that  God  and  men  have  ever  since  been  trying 
to  counteract.  The  purpose  of  the  Scriptures  and  of 
the  New  Testament  is  apparently  confined  to  the  plans 
and  attempts  to  overcome  the  great  error  of  that  day. 

Adam  and  Eve  found  themselves  without  Eden  and 
without  law.  They  had  offended  him  who  was  every- 
thing to  them;  and  trouble  seemed  to  loom  up  in  every 
direction.  Henceforth,  life  was  a  burden,  and  sorrow 
its  daily  companion.  Why,  it  may  be  asked,  did  God 
make  such  prohibition  and  allow  such  temptation?  The 
Scriptures  give  no  explanation,  and  why  should  any  one 
now  vouchsafe  any  opinion,  unless  from  the  perspective 
that  the  lapse  of  time  has  given  and  the  increase  of 
knowledge  of  spiritual  life  and  methods  he  may  be  better 
qualified  to  answer?  And  that  answer  must  be,  if  any 
dare  be  made,  that  if  God  desired  to  have  an  innocent 
race  without  the  experience  of  temptation,  he  would 
have  simply  duplicated  the  hosts  of  angels  that  do  always 
behold  his  face ;  and  hints  throughout  The  Bible  suggest 
that  whatever  the  original  purpose  of  man  upon  earth, 
the  end  of  it  all  points  to  a  certain  consummation, — 
a  race  of  those  who  have  been  tried  and  finally  have 
overcome. 

Without  the  conscious  personal  presence  of  God  and 
without  given  law,  Adam  and  Eve  entered  a  new  kind 


of  life,  feeling  now  responsibilities  and  limitations  and 
natural  tendencies  which  had  been  theretofore  unreal- 
ized, if  indeed  existent.  The  birth  of  children,  and  the 
jealousy  of  Cain,  and  finally  the  murder  of  Abel,  were 
followed  by  flight  and  the  great  change  in  human  char- 
acter that  occurred  in  Cain, — the  ability  to  conceal  his 
thoughts  and  assume  an  innocence  he  did  not  possess. 

Without  law,  except  that  within  their  hearts,  men 
ruled  who  could  rule,  "the  earth  was  filled  with  violence," 
the  stronger  destroj^ed  the  weaker,  until  it  was  a  case  of 
the  survival  of  the  brute.  "There  were  giants  in  the 
earth  in  those  days.  .  .  .  God  saw  that  the  wickedness 
of  man  was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every  imagination 
of  his  heart  was  only  evil  continually." 

According  to  the  given  ages  of  the  patriarchs,  this 
continued  for  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty-six  years,  until 
Noah,  whom  God  had  favored  in  making  him  an  instru- 
ment of  the  world's  physical  salvation,  prepared  the  ark 
in  which  he  was  saved  with  his  family  and  the  animals, 
when  the  flood  came  and  swept  the  people  away.^ 

NOAHIC    PERIOD. 

After  the  flood  had  receded  from  the  earth,  still  with- 
out given  law  for  their  own  government,  Noah  and  his 
children  lived  on,  but  now  under  a  promise  that  a  flood 
should  never  again  overspread  the  earth.  Noah  lived 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  flood ;  and  he  had 
scarcely  been  laid  to  rest  when  his  people  agreed  to  make 
"a  city  and  a  tower,  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven," 
and  a  name  for  themselves.  They  were  scattered  abroad 
through  the  confusion  of  their  language,  and  the  partly- 


1  Noah's  father  had  been  dead  five  years,  but  his  grandfather, 
Methuselah,  was  apparently  drowned  in  the  flood,  at  the  age 
of  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years,  refusing  to  believe  the 
message  of  his  grandson  that  rain  would  descend  and  cover 
the  hills.  He  had  never  known  rain,  apparently,  as  mist  had 
hitherto  watered  the  earth. 


built  tower  of  Babel  remained  as  a  monument  to  their 
selfishness  and  unbelief  in  the  promise  that  ''the  waters 
shall  no  more  become  a  flood  to  destroy  all  flesh." 

For  several  generations  the  people  were  scattered 
abroad  without  any  law  or  order  of  life  or  government 
given  by  God,  save  that  implanted  in  the  himian  breast. 
Up  to  this  time,  the  redemption  of  the  race  seemed  hope- 
less and  its  attempt  apparently  abandoned. 


THE  GREAT  PLAN  OF  REDEMPTION 

The  one  ultimate  and  sure  plan  of  elevating  the 
human  race,  not  to  its  original  condition,  but  to  the 
strength  and  character  of  victors  over  self,  is  first  revealed 
in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Genesis,  and 
gradually  unfolded  throughout  the  old  Scriptures  and  the 
New  Testament.  It  is  wonderful  in  its  conception,  and 
contains  within  itself  the  elements  of  success. 

The  first  eleven  chapters  of  Genesis  cover  more  years 
of  historical  chronology  than  all  the  rest  of  The  Bible. 
These  chapters  are  generally  superficial  in  statement,  and 
are  merely  introductory  to  the  great  plan  of  redemption. 

From  the  first,  it  is  apparent  that  salvation  must  come 
through  human  instrumentality.  Men  must  be  used  to 
affect  their  fellows,  by  their  lives  and  teachings.  Law 
and  orders  from  an  unknown  source  can  never  touch  the 
heart  as  personal  human  influence  and  sympathy. 

THE  CALL  TO  ABRAM. 

Terah,  of  the  ninth  generation  from  Noah,  lived  in 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  and  among  his  sons  was  one  named 
Abram,  The  family  removed  to  Haran,  in  Mesopotamia,^ 
and  while  there  this  eventful  message  came  from  God 
to  Abram:  "Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy 
kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I 
will  shew  thee;  And  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation, 
and  I  will  bless  thee  and  make  thy  name  great ;  and  thou 
shalt  be  a  blessing;  And  I  will  bless  them  that  bless 
thee,  and  curse  him  that  curseth  thee:  and  in  thee  shall 
all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."^ 


1  Acts   vii:2. 

-  Genesis  xii:l-3. 


Abraham  did  not  even  know  whither  he  was  going, ^  but 
went  as  he  was  led,  by  some  way  not  mentioned  in  the 
records.  Probably  only  so  much  of  the  plan  was  revealed 
to  him  at  a  time  as  was  necessary  for  his  guidance.  So 
God's  plan  has  been  always  to  unfold  only  so  much  of 
the  future  as  is  necessary,  as  it  is  infinitely  better  to 
trust  than  to  know.  Abram  was  only  told  that  his  de- 
scendants would  become  a  great  nation,  that  his  name 
w^ould  be  great,  and  that  he  would  be  the  means  of 
blessing  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth.  How,  or  when, 
or  where,  he  was  not  informed.  The  orders  were  sealed, 
and  could  only  be  opened  when  the  time  came  for  each 
to  be  known. 

To  no  other  person  in  all  history  has  God  made  such  a 
promise, — a  promise,  like  that  of  the  rainbow,  without 
condition.  Nations  had  never  existed  to  be  blessings  to 
other  nations  or  families  of  the  earth.  The  promise 
involved  a  wonderful  and  unique  existence  and  purpose. 
Abram  may  have  tried  to  think  how  this  could  be,  but 
he  could  not  have  understood  or  fully  sympathized  with 
such  a  result  if  he  had  been  told.  Nevertheless,  he 
started  out,  and  was  led  to  the  land  of  Canaan. 

This  school  of  God,  thus  originated, — this  normal 
school,  if  it  may  be  so  called, — had  for  its  first  pupil 
this  untrained  Abram,  not  such  a  person  as  many  would 
have  selected  for  the  work  before  him,  but  the  infinite 
mind  knew  the  material  needed.  He  was  human,  indeed, 
and  from  the  first  failed  to  obey.  Avaricious  Lot,  his 
nephew,  undoubtedly  knew  of  the  promise  and  wished 
to  share  in  the  great  fortune  of  his  uncle  Abram.  Abram 
permitted  Lot  to  go  with  him.  This  initial  disobedience 
soon  bore  bitter  fruit ;  and  Abram's  life  w^as  ever  tending 
southward  until  he  had  fully  entered  into  Egypt.  By 
degrees,  he  had  departed  from  the  mountains  and  drifted 


^  Hebrews  xi:8. 


10 

into  the  low  region  of  the  Nile;  and  when  he  was  there 
Abram's  deceit  caused  Pharaoh  to  expel  him  from  the 
land.  Back  to  Canaan,  Abram  came,  from  this  first 
great  lesson,  and  Lot  clung  to  his  flocks  and  herds  until 
the  separation  had  to  come.  Lot  became  a  part  of  Sodom, 
but  Abram  remained  in  Canaan,  and  thus  ended  the 
second  lesson,  which  he  must  frequently  have  recalled 
during  the  several  troubles  he  suffered  subsequently  on 
account  of  his  association  with  Lot. 

THE   PROMISE   OF   THE    CHILD. 

At  this  period,  and  not  before,  the  Lord  said  to  Abram, 
"Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and  look  from  the  place  where 
thou  art  northward,  and  southward,  and  eastward,  and 
westward :  For  all  the  land  which  thou  seest,  to  thee  will 
I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed  for  ever.  And  I  will  make  thy 
seed  as  the  dust  of  the  earth :  so  that  if  a  man  can  num- 
ber the  dust  of  the  earth,  shall  thy  seed  also  be  num- 
bered."^ Sarah,  the  wife  of  Abram,  had  passed  the  age 
of  motherhood,  but  Abram  was  repeatedly  reminded,  by 
the  Lord,  that  it  was  the  natural  son  of  Sarah  and  him- 
self through  whom  the  blessing  was  to  come,  and  at  last 
confirmed  the  promise  of  the  son  by  changing  his  name 
from  Abram,  "the  high-father,"  to  Abraham,  "the  father 
of  a  multitude." 

The  promise  was  also  increased,  "for  a  father  of  many 
nations  have  I  made  thee."^  Abraham  could  see  no  way 
for  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise,  except  through  Ish- 
mael,  his  child  by  the  bond- woman  Hagar;  and  Abraham 
said  to  God,  "  'O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee !' 
And  God  said,  'Sarah  thy  wife  shall  bear  thee  a  son 
indeed ;  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Isaac :  and  I  will 
establish  my  covenant  with  him  for  an  everlasting  cove- 


>  Genesis,  xiii:14-16. 
^  Genesis  xvii:5. 


II 

nant,  and  with  his  seed  after  him.  And  as  for  Ishmael, 
I  have  heard  thee :  Behold,  I  have  blessed  him,  and  will 
make  him  fruitful,  and  will  multiply  him  exceedingly; 
twelve  princes  shall  he  beget,  and  I  will  make  him  a 
great  nation.  But  my  covenant  will  I  establish  with 
Isaac,  which  Sarah  shall  bear  unto  thee  at  this  set  time 
in  the  next  year.'  "^     Isaac  was  born. 

Ishmael  was  separated  from  the  freeborn,  "For  in 
Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called." 

THE  OFFERING  OF   ISAAC. 

In  God's  school,  the  greatest  lesson  is  faith.  Abraham 
had  learned  his  early  lessons,  but  a  harder  one  was  at 
hand.  The  child  of  the  promise  had  been  born,  but  now 
came  a  command  that,  if  obeyed,  would  annul  all  that 
the  promise  implied :  "Take  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son 
Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get  thee  into  the  land  of 
Moriah;  and  offer  him  there  for  a  burnt  offering  upon 
one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will  tell  thee  of."^  This 
was  the  only  oft'spring  of  his  beloved  Sarah,  the  child  of 
their  old  age,  and  the  one  through  whom  the  promised 
seed  must  come.  The  order  was  so  irreconciliable  with 
the  events  that  had  just  occurred, — it  would  rob  Abra- 
ham and  Sarah  of  the  comfort  of  the  lad,  be  opposed 
to  all  human  instincts  and  affection,  and  the  promise,  so 
beneficent  and  grand  and  wonderful,  would  never  be 
fulfilled.  Nevertheless,  Abraham  did  not  waver.  Faith 
in  the  promise  and  goodness  and  righteousness  of  God 
rose  triumphant  over  selfishness,  affection  and  doubt. 
And  at  the  crucial  moment,  when  Abraham  had  made 
full  proof  of  his  faith,  he  was  excused  from  further  trial 
at  that  time.  Then  followed  the  increased  promise, 
always  without  condition,  "By  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith 


^  Genesis  xvii:18-21. 
2  Genesis  xxii:2. 


12 

the  Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  done  this  thing,  and 
hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son :  That  in  bless- 
ing I  will  bless  thee,  and  in  multiplying  I  will  multiply 
thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the  heaven,  and  as  the  sand  which 
is  upon  the  sea  shore;  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the 
gate  of  his  enemies ;  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed  ;  because  thou  hast  obeyed  my 
voice, "^  In  this  promise  appears  the  first  reference  to 
the  promised  possession  of  "the  gate  of  his  enemies." 

It  is  interesting  and  important  to  observe  here,  that 
when  the  servant  of  Abraham  went  to  Nahor,  in  Meso- 
potamia, where  he  met  Rebecca,  whom  he  sought  as  a 
wife  for  Isaac,  at  her  departure  with  the  servant  her 
brother  and  mother  refreshed  her  memory  concerning 
this  promise,  saying;  "Thou  art  our  sister,  be  thou  the 
mother  of  thousands  of  millions,  and  let  thy  seed  possess 
the  gate  of  those  which  hate  them."^  The  servant  may 
have  rehearsed  to  Rebecca's  family  the  history  of  Isaac, 
and  of  the  promises  of  Jehovah,  concerning  the  vastness 
of  the  number  of  his  descendants  and  of  the  ultimate 
triumph,  in  whatever  form  it  might  appear,  of  the  loss 
of  opportunities  and  advantages  of  those  who  were  op- 
posed to  them,  and  the  possession  of  the  same  by  this 
seed  of  Abraham.  How  ready  Rebecca  was  to  share  in 
the  glory  of  her  mission  as  the  wife  of  Isaac  and  the 
mother  of  the  promised  people ;  and  her  nearest  of  kin 
wished  her  Godspeed  in  her  new  career. 

ISAAC. 

Abraham  died  and  Isaac  came  into  possession  of  his 
father's  place  as  head  of  the  promised  multitude.  Isaac 
and  Rebecca  dwelt  in  Canaan,  and  twins  were  born  to 
them.  There  came  a  famine  in  the  land ;  and  the  Lord 
said  to  Isaac:  "  'Go  not  down  into  Egypt:  dwell  in  the 


^  Genesis  xxiil5-18. 
^  Genesis  xxiv:60. 


13 

land  which  I  shall  tell  thee  of:  Sojourn  in  this  land,  and 
I  will  be  with  thee,  and  will  bless  thee ;  for  unto  thee, 
and  unto  thy  seed,  I  will  give  all  these  countries,  and  I 
will  perform  the  oath  which  I  sware  unto  Abraham  thy 
father ;  And  I  will  make  thy  seed  to  multiply  as  the  stars 
of  heaven,  and.  will  give  unto  thy  seed  all  these  coun- 
tries :  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
be  blessed ;  Because  that  Abraham  obeyed  my  voice,  and 
kept  my  charge,  my  commandments,  my  statutes,  and  my 
laws.'  And  Isaac  dwelt  in  Gerar."^  The  twin  sons  of 
Isaac  and  Rebecca  were  Esau  and  Jacob.  Esau  was  the 
first  born.  Caring  for  the  free  life  of  the  woods,  he 
underestimated  the  preeminence  of  birth  and  property 
values.  On  one  occasion,  when  Esau  returned  from  the 
field,  hungry  and  tired,  Jacob  had  a  mess  of  pottage,  and 
Jacob  offered  to  give  him  the  greens  for  his  birthright. 
The  bargain  was  quickly  closed,  and  Jacob  received  the 
birthright  that  had  belonged  to  Esau  as  the  first  born. 
When  Isaac  was  old  and  his  eyes  were  dim  Jacob  deceived 
him,  with  the  assistance  of  his  mother,  by  palming  him- 
self off  as  Esau,  and  by  so  doing  received  the  blessing 
which  Isaac  had  intended  for  the  first  born, 

JACOB. 

When  Jacob  was  about  to  go  to  Padan-aram,  Isaac 
bestowed  upon  him  the  blessing  that  God  gave  to  Abra- 
ham, who  gave  it  to  Isaac,  and  now  Isaac  to  Jacob,  say- 
ing, "God  Almighty  bless  thee,  and  make  thee  fruitful, 
and  multiply  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  a  multitude  of 
people;  And  give  thee  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  to  thee, 
and  to  thy  seed  with  thee:  that  thou  mayest  inherit  the 
land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  which  God  gave  unto 
Abraham."^  On  his  way  to  Padan-aram,  Jacob  spent  the 
night  at  the  place  he  named  Bethel,  because  there  God 


1  Genesis,    xxvi:2-6. 

2  Genesis  xxvii:3-4. 


14 

Spoke  to  him,  in  a  dream,  and  repeated  to  him  the  cove- 
nant and  promise  made  to  Abraham  and  to  Isaac.  With 
a  stone  for  his  pillow,  he  lay  down  and  slept.  God  said 
to  him:  "I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham  thy  father, 
and  the  God  of  Isaac :  the  land  whereon  thou  liest,  to 
thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed ;  And  thy  seed  shall  be 
as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  thou  shalt  spread  abroad  to 
the  west,  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north,  and  to  the 
south :  and  in  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blessed.  And,  behold,  I  am  with  thee, 
and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest,  and 
will  bring  thee  again  into  this  land;  for  I  will  not  leave 
thee,  until  I  have  done  that  which  I  have  spoken  to 
thee  of."^  Early  in  the  morning,  Jacob  took  the  stone^ 
which  he  had  used  for  a  pillow  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar, 
pouring  oil  upon  the  top  of  it. 

The  long  story  of  the  winning  and  getting  of  Rachel 
for  his  wife  shows  what  a  lesson  Jacob  received,  but, 
apparently,  he  profited  little  by  it  in  character,  as  he  by 
deceitful  tricks  matched  the  wiles  of  her  father  relative 
to  property. 

Then  came  the  angel  who  wrestled  with  Jacob  and 
was  defeated.  The  angel  asked  to  be  allowed  to  depart. 
Jacob  believed  the  wrestler  to  be  God  and  said,  "  'I  will 
not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me.'  .  .  .  And  he  said 
unto  him,  'What  is  thy  name?'  And  he  said,  'J^-cob.' 
And  he  said,  'Thy  name  shall  be  called  no  more  Jacob, 
but  Israel :  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power  with  God  and 
with  men,  and  hast  prevailed.'  " 

After  Jacob  had  finally  left  Padan-aram  with  his 
family  and  servants  and  cattle,  and  pacified  Esau,  he 
entered    Canaan.      There,    God    appeared    to    him,    and 


^Genesis,  xxviii:13-15. 

2  This  stone  is  said  to  be  the  veritable  stone  which,  later, 
Solomon  carried  to  Jerusalem,  and  is  now  under  the  coronation 
chair  of  England. 


15 

changed  his  name  as  the  wrestler  had  done  and  repeated 
the  promise  made  to  Abraham  and  Isaac,  "  'Thy  name 
shall  not  be  called  any  more  Jacob,  but  Israel  shall  be 
thy  name' :  and  he  called  his  name  Israel.  And  God  said 
mito  him,  *I  am  God  Almighty:  be  fruitful  and  multiply; 
a  nation  and  a  company  of  nations  shall  be  of  thee,  and 
kings  shall  come  out  of  thy  loins ;  And  the  land  which  I 
gave  Abraham  and  Isaac,  to  thee  I  will  give  it,  and  to 
thy  seed  after  thee  will  I  give  the  land.'  "^  A  new 
element  appears  in  this  promise,  namely,  that  "a  nation 
and  a  company  of  nations  shall  be  of  thee." 

Jacob  came  unto  Mamre,  where  his  father  dwelt;  and 
the  reconciliation  of  Esau  and  Jacob  is  beautifully  sug- 
gested in  the  account  of  the  death  of  Isaac,  which  says : 
"and  his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him." 

Rachel,  the  wife  of  Jacob,  was  the  mother  of  only 
two  of  Jacob's  twelve  sons,  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  who 
were,  of  course,  the  peculiar  objects  of  their  parents' 
affection. 

SLAVERY   IN   EGYPT. 

Another  famine  was  severe  in  Canaan,  and  Israel  with 
his  family  went  down  into  Egypt  for  bread.  The  fact 
that  there  was  no  objection  offered  by  God  signifies  that 
a  purpose  was  to  be  accomplished  by  this  plan.  The 
story  is  well  known, — ^how  Joseph  was  next  to  Pharoah 
in  authority  in  Egypt,  and  identified  his  brothers,  and 
demanded  the  visit  of  his  younger  brother  Benjamin, 
and  how  subsequently  his  father  and  the  rest  of  the  family 
had  gone  into  Egypt.  All  went  well  in  the  new  asso- 
ciations for  seventeen  years,  when  Israel  was  taken  with 
his  last  sickness.  Joseph  took  his  sons,  Manasseh  and 
Ephraim,  and  went  to  his  father's  bedside.  Israel  sat 
upon  the  bed,  and  said  to  Joseph :  "  'God  Almighty  ap- 


1  GenesiSp   xxxv:10-12. 


i6 

peared  unto  me  at  Luz  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  blessed 
me,  And  said  unto  me.  Behold,  I  will  make  thee  fruitful, 
and  multiply  thee,  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  multitude 
of  people ;  and  will  give  this  land  to  thy  seed  after  thee 
for  an  everlasting  possession.  And  now  thy  two  sons, 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  which  were  born  unto  thee  in 
the  land  of  Egypt  before  I  came  unto  thee  in  Egypt,  are 
mine ;  as  Reuben  and  Simeon,  they  shall  be  mine.  And 
thy  issue,  which  thou  begettest  after  them,  shall  be  thine, 
and  shall  be  called  after  the  name  of  their  brethren  in 
their  inheritance.  And  as  for  me,  when  I  came  from 
Padan,  Rachel  died  by  me  in  the  land  of  Canaan  in  the 
way,  when  yet  but  a  little  way  to  come  unto  Ephrath : 
and  I  buried  her  there  in  the  way  of  Ephrath ;  the  same 
is  Bethlehem.'  And  Israel  beheld  Joseph's  sons,  and 
said,  'Who  are  these?'  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  father, 
'They  are  my  sons,  whom  God  hath  given  me  in  this 
place.'  And  he  said,  'Bring  them,  I  pray  thee,  unto  me, 
and  I  will  bless  them.'  Now  the  eyes  of  Israel  were  dim 
for  age,  he  could  not  see.  And  he  brought  them  near 
unto  him ;  and  he  kissed  them,  and  embraced  them.  And 
Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  'I  had  not  thought  to  see  thy 
face :  and,  lo,  God  hath  shewed  me  also  thy  seed.'  And 
Joseph  brought  them  out  from  between  his  knees,  and 
he  bowed  himself  with  his  face  to  the  earth.  And  Joseph 
took  them  both,  Ephraim  in  his  right  hand  toward  Is- 
rael's left  hand,  and  Manasseh  in  his  left  hand  toward 
Israel's  right  hand,  and  brought  them  near  unto  him. 
And  Israel  stretched  out  his  right  hand,  and  laid  it  upon 
Ephraim's  head,  who  was  the  younger,  and  his  left  hand 
upon  Manasseh's  head,  guiding  his  hands  wittingly;  for 
Manasseh  was  the  firstborn.  And  he  blessed  Joseph,  and 
said,  'God,  before  whom  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac 
did  walk,  the  God  which  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto 
this  day.     The  Angel  which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil, 


17 

bless  the  lads;  and  let  my  name  be  named  on  them,  and 
the  name  of  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac ;  and  let 
them  grow  into  a  multitude  in  the  midst  of  the  earth.' 
And  when  Joseph  saw  that  his  father  laid  his  right  hand 
upon  the  head  of  Ephraim,  it  displeased  him :  and  he 
held  up  his  father's  hand,  to  remove  it  from  Ephraim's 
head  unto  Manasseh's  head.  And  Joseph  said  unto  his 
father,  'Not  so,  my  father :  for  this  is  the  firstborn ;  put 
thy  right  hand  upon  his  head.'  And  his  father  refused, 
and  said,  'I  know  it,  my  son,  I  know  it:  he  also  shall 
become  a  people,  and  he  also  shall  be  great:  but  truly 
his  younger  brother  shall  be  greater  than  he,  and  his 
seed  shall  become  a  multitude  of  nations.'  And  he  blessed 
them  that  day,  saying,  'In  thee  shall  Israel  bless,  saying, 
God  make  thee  as  Ephraim  and  as  Manasseh :  and  he 
set  Ephraim  before  Manasseh.  And  Israel  said  unto 
Joseph,  'Behold,  I  die:  but  God  shall  be  with  you,  and 
bring  you  again  unto  the  land  of  your  fathers.  More- 
over I  have  given  to  thee  one  portion  above  thy  brethren, 
which  I  took  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Amorite  with  my 
sword  and  with  my  bow.'  "^ 

Then,  Joseph's  brethren  came,  and  their  father  said 
to  them,  "Gather  yourselves  together,  that  I  may  tell  you 
that  which  shall  befall  you  in  the  last  days.  Gather 
yourselves  together,  and  hear,  ye  sons  of  Jacob ;  and 
hearken  unto  Israel  your  father."  Israel  then  told  them 
of  the  future  of  each  one.  Of  Joseph  he  said :  "Joseph 
is  a  fruitful  bough,  even  a  fruitful  bough  by  a  well ; 
whose  branches  run  over  the  wall :  The  archers  have 
sorely  grieved  him,  and  shot  at  him,  and  hated  him : 
But  his  bow  abode  in  strength,  and  the  arms  of  his  hands 
were  made  strong  by  the  hands  of  the  mighty  God  of 
Jacob;  (from  whence  is  the  shepherd,  the  stone  of 
Israel:)   Even  by  the  God  of  thy  father,  who  shall  help 


*  Genesis,  xlviii:3-22. 


thee;  and  by  the  Almighty,  who  shall  bless  thee  with 
blessings  of  heaven  above,  blessings  of  the  deep  that  lieth 
under,  blessings  of  the  breasts,  and  of  the  womb :  The 
blessings  of  thy  father  have  prevailed  above  the  blessings 
of  my  progenitors  unto  the  utmost  bound  of  the  ever- 
lasting hills:  they  shall  be  on  the  head  of  Joseph,  and 
on  the  crown  of  the  head  of  him  that  was  separate  from 
his  brethren."^ 

Israel  died.  Later,  Joseph  died,  and  his  brethren  and 
their  families  continued  to  live  in  Egypt.  The  children 
of  Israel  increased  in  such  numbers  that  the  new  pha- 
raoh,  who  knew  not  Joseph,  nor  cared  for  his  family, 
was  alarmed  lest  the  people  of  Israel  would  become  mas- 
ters of  Egypt,  and  a  system  of  slavery  was  instituted. 
He  adopted  various  measures  to  retard  or  wholly  stop 
their  increase. 

THE    RELEASE. 

To  accomplish  this  result,  Pharoah  ordered  that  every 
son  that  should  be  born  be  cast  into  the  river.  While 
this  edict  was  in  force,  Moses  was  born.  His  mother, 
in  order  to  save  him,  made  a  little  ark  of  reeds,  laid  the 
babe  in  it,  and  placed  it  in  the  river  where  and  when 
the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  was  wont  to  bathe.  The  prin- 
cess found  the  infant,  and  was  so  pleased  with  the  charm 
of  the  boy  that  she  took  him  to  the  palace  and  reared 
him  as  if  he  were  her  own,  although  she  knew  he  was  a 
Hebrew. 

Moses  knew  the  slavery  and  suffering  of  his  people; 
he  knew  their  history  and  the  promises  of  God  to  Abra- 
ham, to  Isaac  and  to  Jacob.  Despite  the  fact  that  he 
dwelt  in  the  palace  of  the  pharaoh,  his  heart  was  with 
his  people;  and  when  he  came  to  maturity,  at  the  age  of 
forty,  "he  went  out  unto  his  brethren,  and  looked  on  their 


1  Genesis,  xlix:22-26. 


19 

burdens."  His  endeavor  to  help  them  failed  in  his  first 
attempt  to  examine  into  their  condition  even.  He  was 
wise  with  the  learning  of  Egypt,  but  lacked  patience  and 
other  preparation  necessary  to  achieve  great  results. 
At  the  first  act  of  injustice  he  saw  done  to  a  Hebrew,  he 
lost  his  temper  and  murdered  an  Egyptian.  He  fled  for 
his  life  to  the  land  of  Midian.  This  would-be  leader  of 
a  great  people  had,  after  his  first  small  and  futile  attempt 
to  relieve  his  race,  become  a  vagabond.  He  became, 
finally,  a  shepherd  in  the  wilderness. 

The  Hebrews  knew  not  that  the  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years  they  had  spent  in  slavery  in  Egypt  was  a 
course  of  training  in  God's  school.  Moses  learned  how 
useless  was  his  education  in  the  schools  of  Egypt  to 
accomplish  great  things, — to  give  release  to  the  captive 
and  be  a  leader  to  his  people.  He  was  now  prosecuting, 
for  another  forty  years,  a  course  of  preparation  for  his 
great  work,  not  by  the  learning  of  Egypt,  but  by  years 
spent  with  his  sheep,  near  the  desert  and  on  the  moun- 
tains, alone  with  God  and  the  stars  above  him,  with  time 
to  think  and  to  grow  patient. 

This  course  of  lessons  was  at  last  ended.  What  had 
all  this  training  produced?  Was  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob  progressing  in  the  school  of 
preparation ;  was  Moses  now  capable  of  leading  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  into  the  promised  land?  God  prepared  the 
test.  One  day,  when  Moses  had  led  his  flock  to  Mount 
Horeb,  God  spoke  to  him,  and  appointed  him  to  be  the 
instrument  of  the  deliverance  of  his  race.  Moses  showed 
much  modesty,  probably  remembering  his  utter  failure  in 
a  similar  attempt  forty  years  before;  but  God  told  him 
that  he  would  be  with  him.  He  was  willing  to  go,  but 
he  was  sure  that  he  could  not  deliver  the  messages  re- 
quired of  him,  because  he  was  not  eloquent,  but  slow  of 
speech,  although   God  told  him  that  he  would  be  his 


20 

mouth  and  would  teach  him  what  to  say.  Moses  thus 
lost  much  of  the  prestige  he  would  have  had  with  Pha- 
raoh as  well  as  with  his  own  people.  God  said  to  him, 
"Your  brother  Aaron  can  speak  well,  and  I  will  send  him 
to  you  to  be  your  spokesman." 

Aaron  was  probably  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  and  God 
had  already  said  to  him,  *'Go  into  the  wilderness  to  meet 
Moses."     It  is  doubtful  if  Aaron  knew  what  had  become 
of  his  brother  Moses,  or  why  he  was  to  go  to  meet  him. 
While   God   was   speaking   with   Moses,   Aaron  was  not 
only  on  the  way  to  the  wilderness,  but  he  forthwith  came 
in  sight,  and  God  said,  ''Behold,  he  cometh  forth  to  meet 
thee :  and  when  he  seeth  thee  he  will  be  glad  in  his  heart." 
Aaron  was  glad  to  see  again  his  younger  brother,  and 
kissed  him.     Moses  told  him  all  the  message  that  God 
had    given    him.     With    the    permission    of    Jethro,    his 
father-in-law,  and  owner  of  the  sheep  he  tended,  Moses 
returned  to  Egypt  with  Aaron.     They  gathered  the  elders 
of  Israel,  and  Aaron  told  the  people  everything  that  had 
occurred   and   did   the   signs,   and  they  believed.     Then 
Moses  and  Aaron  had  an  audience  with  the  pharaoh,  de- 
manding that  the  Hebrews  be  permitted  to  go  a  three- 
days  journey  into  the  wilderness  to  worship.     The  de- 
mand was  refused  and  followed  by  a  plague,  in  which 
all    waters    of    the    Egyptians    became   blood.     But    the 
serious  consequence  of  this  condition,  which  continued  for 
seven  days,  was  insufficient  to  secure  permission,  and  a 
plague  of   frogs   followed.     This  was  so  alarming   and 
disagreeable   that   finally   the   pharaoh   acceded   to   their 
request,  and  the  plague  was  accordingly  stayed.     When 
he  saw  that  it  was  over,  Pharaoh  repented  his  coerced 
consent,  and  would  not  let  them  go.     Plague  followed 
plague, — of  lice,  flies,  murrain,  boils,  hail,   locusts  and 
darkness, — until  nine  of  them  had  tormented  the  land. 
None  of  them  troubled  the  land  of  Goshen,  where  the 


21 

Hebrews  lived.     The  consenting  and  repenting  and  dila- 
tory tactics  of  the  pharoah  were  repeated  until  finally  the 
tenth  and  last  plague  came.     Pharaoh  told  Moses  that  he 
did  not  wish  to  see  his  face  again;  and  the  latter  said, 
"Thou  hast  spoken  well,   I  will  see  thy  face  again  no 
more."    The  tenth  plague  was  the  death  of  the  firstborn 
in  Egypt, — not  only  of  the  people,  but  of  the  animals. 
Each  family  of  the  Hebrews  was  required  to  take  a  lamb, 
and  "strike"  its  blood  upon  the  doorposts  of  the  houses 
and  eat  its  flesh  roasted  on  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  first  month,  for  in  that  night  the  Lord  slew 
the  firstborn  in   Egypt,  except  those  of  the  households 
where  the   blood   was   found,   which   were   passed  over. 
This  originated  the  sacrament  or  feast  of  the  passover, 
which  has  ever  since  been  celebrated  by  the  Hebrew  race. 
This  terrible   calamity  upon  the   Egyptians  caused   the 
pharaoh,  not  only  to  give  his  consent  to  the  release  of 
the  slaves,  but  the  Egyptians  were  so  glad  to  get  rid  of 
this  cause  of  so  much  trouble  and  sorrow  and  loss,  that 
they  "loaned"  to  the  Hebrews  jewels  of  silver  and  of  gold, 
and  permitted  them  to  carry  away  with  them  their  flocks 
and  herds, — in  fact,  they  were  privileged  to  take  so  much 
property  that  "they  spoiled  the  Egyptians."    After  eating 
of  unleavened  bread  for  seven  days,  the  Israelites,  being 
about  six  hundred  thousand,  together  with  their  flocks 
and  herds  of  cattle,  journeyed  to  Succoth.     The  whole 
movement  was  consummated  so  quickly  that  scant  prepa- 
rations for  a  food  supply  had  been  made;  yet  Moses  de- 
liberately took  with  them  the  body  of  Joseph,  which  was 
embalmed.     God  led  them  in  a  circuitous  way,  by  the 
Red  sea  and  the  wilderness,  with  a  cloud  by  day  and  a 
pillar  of  fire  by  night.     As  soon  as  the  last  plague  was 
ended,  the  pharaoh  repented  that  he  had  permitted  the 
Hebrews  to  go,  causing  the  loss  of  this  vast  munber  of 
valuable  slaves,  and  he  pursued  them  with  all  the  chariots 


22 


of  Egypt  and  with  his  army  unto  the  Red  Sea,  where 
they  were  encamped.  Ah,  it  seemed  that  the  Egyptians 
would  surely  recover  their  property.  The  waters  stretched 
before  the  Hebrews,  and  they  had  no  boats.  The  great 
host  of  the  enemy  was  closing  up  to  them.  The  strange 
cry  of  "Forward !"  came  from  God,  who  commanded 
Moses  to  lift  up  his  hand  and  stretch  it  over  the  waters, 
which  divided,  and  while  the  cloud,  which  had  removed 
from  the  front  to  the  rear  of  the  Hebrews,  enshrouded 
the  Egyptians,  the  Hebrews  passed  over  dry  shod.  The 
cloud  then  passed  over  the  sea  and  resumed  its  place  at 
the  head  of  the  column.  Pharaoh  and  his  army  came 
up  to  the  sea  and  was  half  way  across  when  the  waters 
came  together,  and  all  were  drowned.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  such  an  exhibition  caused  the  subjects  of  its  favor 
to  believe  in  the  Lord  and  his  servant  Moses,  and  they 
burst  into  song  and  music. 

WILDERNESS  LESSONS. 

Now  began  a  series  of  lessons  in  the  wilderness  school, 
which  continued  for  forty  years.  Tests  came  period- 
ically, and  some  of  the  people  passed  them  successfully, 
but  most  failed,  so  sadly.  First,  thirst  came  and  God 
proved  them;  next  came  hunger  and  the  people  longed 
for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  and  again  God  tested  them. 
Judges  were  appointed,  and  God  gave  them  written  law 
to  prove  them.  The  ark  was  made  to  contain  the  stones 
on  which  the  law  was  written,  and  a  tabernacle,  etc., 
were  made  and  the  priesthood  and  an  order  of  sacrifices 
were  established. 

The  people  were  proved  again  by  Moses'  absence  from 
their  sight  for  forty  days,  and  they  failed  in  the  test. 
While  Moses  was  gone  upon  the  mountain,  the  people 
thought  he  had  surely  left  them,  and  they  followed  the 
custom  of  the  nations  about  them  and  made  an  idol — a 


23 

golden  calf — ^and  worshipped  it.     And  Aaron,  himself, 
made  the  calf ! 

THE    GOVERNMENT    ESTABLISHED. 

A  theocratic  government  was  at  once  instituted.  It 
had  the  elements  of  a  written  constitution,  contained  in 
the  "ten  commandments."  The  first  is  that  God  is  its 
supreme  and  exclusive  ruler.  Then  follows  a  statement 
of  duties  to  God  and  to  self  and  to  each  other.  It  was 
great  in  its  simplicity,  and  sufficient  for  the  government 
of  any  people.^ 

Promises  were  made  of  what  would  immediately  result 
if  they  became  efficient  in  the  school  of  preparation  for 
the  service  that  would  bless  the  whole  world.  God  has 
never  wished  to  wait,  but  is  ever  ready  to  distribute  his 
choicest  blessings  upon  those  fit  to  receive  them.     In  the 


1  "And  God  spake  all  these  words, saying,  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God,  which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me.  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any 
likeness  of  any  thing  tliat  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the 
earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth:  Thou 
shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them:  for  I 
the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation 
of  them  that  hate  me;  And  shewing  mercy  unto  thousands  of 
them  tliat  love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments.  Thou  shalt 
not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain;  for  the  Lord 
will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in  vain.  Re- 
member the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy.  Six  days  shalt  thou 
labour,  and  do  all  thy  work:  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sab- 
bath of  the  Lord  thy  God:  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work, 
thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  manservant,  nor  thy 
maidservant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within 
thy  gates:  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth, 
the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day: 
wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 
Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother:  that  thy  days  may  be  long 
upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.  Thou  shalt 
not  kill.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 
Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour. 
Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  manservant,  nor  his  maidservant, 
nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's." 
— Exodus  xx:l-17. 


24 

meantime,  the  training  must  continue,  in  suffering  and 
loss.  "If  ye  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  keep  my  command- 
ments, and  do  them;  then  I  will  give  you  rain  in  due 
season,  and  the  land  shall  yield  her  increase,  and  the 
trees  of  the  field  shall  yield  their  fruit.  .  .  .  And  five 
of  you  shall  chase  an  hundred,  and  an  hundred  of  you 
shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight  and  your  enemies  shall 
fall  before  you  by  the  sword.  For  I  will  have  respect 
unto  you,  and  make  you  fruitful,  and  multiply  you,  and 
establish  my  covenant  with  you.  ...  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God,  which  brought  you  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  that  ye  should  not  be  their  bondmen ;  and  I  have 
broken  the  bands  of  your  yoke,  and  made  you  go  upright. 
But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me,  and  will  not  do  all 
these  commandments,  ...  I  will  bring  a  sword  upon 
you,  that  shall  avenge  the  quarrel  of  my  covenant :  .  .  . 
Then  will  I  remember  my  covenant  with  Jacob,  and  also 
my  covenant  with  Isaac,  and  also  my  covenant  with 
Abraham  will  I  remember ;  and  I  will  remember  the 
land.  .  .  .  And  yet  for  all  that,  when  they  be  in  the 
land  of  their  enemies,  I  will  not  cast  them  away,  neither 
will  I  abhor  them,  to  destroy  them  utterly,  and  to  break 
my  covenant  with  them:  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God. 
But  I  will  for  their  sakes  remember  the  covenant  of  their 
ancestors,  whom  I  brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  that  I  might  be  their 
God."^ 

THE  TRAINING. 

There  were  lessons  and  tests  all  along  the  line.  The 
people  were  unwilling  to  eat  the  God- given  manna,  and 
longed  for  the  food  which  they  had  had  in  the  time  of 
their  slavery  in  Egypt.  They  remembered  the  fish,  the 
cucumbers   and   melons   and   leeks   and   the   onions   and 


1  Leviticus   xxvi:3,  4,  8,  9,  13-15,  25,  42,  44,  45. 


25 

garlic.     God  yielded  to  their  desire,  and  gave  them  quails 
for  a  month,     A  multitude  died. 

When  they  neared  the  land  of  Canaan  spies  were  sent 
therein  to  learn  its  conditions, — the  head  one  in  each  tribe 
except  the  tribe  of  Levi.     The  tribe  of  Manasseh    (by 
Gaddi,    the   son    of    Susi)    represented   Joseph;    Caleb, 
Judah ;  and  Joshua,  Ephraim.     The  spies  were  ordered 
to  go  into  a  mountain,  and  learn  the  nature  of  the  land, 
the  number  and  strength  of  the  people,  and  whether  they 
dwelt  in  tents  or  strongholds.     They  were  required  to 
bring  back  some  of  the  fruit  of  the  land.     The  twelve 
went  to  Hebron.     They  returned  after  forty  days  from 
the  brook  which  they  named  Eschol  (because  of  the  ripe 
grapes  they  found  there  in  abundance)   with  great  clus- 
ters of  grapes,  pomegranates  and  figs.     They  showed  the 
samples  of  fruit  they  had  brought  and  reported  that  the 
land  surely  flowed  with  milk  and  honey;  but  that  the 
people  were  strong  and  the  cities  walled  and  very  great 
and   everywhere,   and   they   "saw   the   children   of  Anak 
there."     Caleb  stilled  the  people  and  said,  "Let  us  go  up 
at  once,  and  possess  it ;  for  we  are  well  able  to  overcome 
it."    The  others  at  once  emphasized  the  giants,  "the  sons 
of  Anak,"  saying  that  the  people  they  saw  there  were  of 
great  stature.     The  multitude  exclaimed,   "Would  God 
that  we  had  died  in  the  land  of  Egypt !  or  would  God 
we  had  died  in  this  wilderness !     And  wherefore  hath 
the  Lord  brought  us  into  this  land,  to  fall  by  the  sword, 
that  our  wives  and  our  children  should  be  a  prey?  were 
it  not  better  for  us  to  return  into   Egypt?'     And  they 
said  to  one  another,  'Let  us  make  a  captain,  and  let  us 
return  into  Egypt.'  "    Then  Joshua  and  Caleb  rent  their 
clothes,  and  encouraged  the  people  not  to  fear  the  Ca- 
naanites,  for  "their  defence  is  departed  from  them,  and 
the  Lord  is  with  us:  fear  them  not."     But  the  response 
to  Joshua  and  Caleb  was,  "Stone  them !" 


26 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  'How  long  will  this 
people  provoke  me?  and  how  long  will  it  be  ere  they 
believe  me,  for  all  the  signs  which  I  have  shewed  among 
them?  I  will  smite  them  with  the  pestilence,  and  dis- 
inherit them,  and  will  make  of  thee  a  greater  nation  and 
mightier  than  they.'  And  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord, 
'Then  the  Egyptians  shall  hear  it,  (for  thou  broughtest 
up  this  people  in  thy  might  from  among  them;)  And 
they  will  tell  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  land :  for  they 
have  heard  that  thou  Lord  art  among  this  people,  that 
thou  Lord  art  seen  face  to  face,  and  that  thy  cloud  stand- 
eth  over  them,  and  that  thou  goest  before  them,  by  day 
time  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  and  in  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 
But  if  thou  shalt  kill  all  this  people  as  one  man,  then 
the  nations  which  have  heard  the  fame  of  thee  will  speak, 
saying,  Because  the  Lord  was  not  able  to  bring  this 
people  into  the  land  which  he  sware  unto  them,  there- 
fore he  hath  slain  them  in  the  wilderness.  And  now,  I 
beseech  thee,  let  the  power  of  my  Lord  be  great,  accord- 
ing as  thou  hast  spoken,  saying,  'The  Lord  is  long-suffer- 
ing, and  of  great  mercy,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgres- 
sion, and  by  no  means  clearing  the  guilty.'  .  .  .  Pardon, 
I  beseech  thee,  the  iniquity  of  this  people  according  to 
the  greatness  of  thy  mercy,  and  as  thou  hast  forgiven 
this  people,  from  Egypt  even  until  now.'  And  the  Lord 
said,  'I  have  pardoned  according  to  thy  word:  But  as 
truly  as  I  live,  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the 
glory  of  the  Lord.  Because  all  those  men  which  have 
seen  my  glory,  and  my  miracles,  which  I  did  in  Egypt 
and  in  the  wilderness,  and  have  tempted  me  now  these 
ten  times,  and  have  not  hearkened  to  my  voice;  Surely 
they  shall  not  see  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  their 
fathers,  neither  shall  any  of  them  that  provoked  me 
see  it:  But  my  beloved  servant  Caleb,  because  he  had 
another  spirit  within  him,  and  hath  followed  me  fully, 


27 

him  will  I  bring  into  the  land  whereinto  he  went;  and 
his  seed  shall  possess  it.  .  .  .  Tomorrow  turn  you,  and 
get  you  into  the  wilderness  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea. 
.  .  .  Your  carcases  shall  fall  in  this  wilderness;  and 
all  that  were  numbered  of  you,  according  to  your  whole 
number,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  which  have 
murmured  against  me.  Doubtless  ye  shall  not  come  into 
the  land,  concerning  which  I  sware  to  make  you  dwell 
therein,  save  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  and  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun.  But  your  little  ones,  which  ye  said 
should  be  a  prey,  them  will  I  bring  in,  and  they  shall 
know  the  land  which  ye  have  despised.  .  .  .  After  the 
number  of  the  days  in  which  ye  searched  the  land,  even 
forty  days,  each  day  for  a  year,  shall  ye  bear  your  iniqui- 
ties, even  forty  years,  and  ye  shall  know  my  breach  of 
promise.  I,  the  Lord,  have  said,  I  will  surely  do  it  unto 
all  this  evil  congregation,  that  are  gathered  together 
against  me:  in  this  wilderness  they  shall  be  consumed, 
and  there  they  shall  die.'  .  .  .  But  Joshua  the  son  of 
Ntm,  and  Caleb  the  son  of  Jephunneh,  which  were  of 
the  men  that  went  to  search  the  land,  lived  still." 

Moses  undertook  a  truce  with  the  king  of  Edom,  asking 
for  the  privilege  of  passing  through  his  land,  and  promis- 
ing to  pay  him  for  all  damages  that  might  ensue  thereby. 
But  the  king  of  Edom  replied  that  he  could  not  grant 
the  request,  and  further  stated  that  if  the  Israelites  came 
that  way  he  would  smite  them  with  the  sword.  So,  the 
Hebrews  journeyed  to  Mount  Hor.  Thus,  through  fear 
and  want  of  faith  in  Jehovah,  they  went  around  the 
obstacle  instead  of  possessing  the  land. 

Compassing  the  land  of  Edom,  by  way  of  the  Red 
Sea,  they  came  back  to  the  place  where  they  entered  the 
wilderness  when  they  fled  from  the  Egyptians  and  from 
slavery,  thirty-eight  years  before.  The  people  were  much 
discouraged  because  of  the  way. 


28 

To  the  king  of  the  Amorites  the  Hebrews  made  a 
request  similar  to  that  made  to  the  king  of  Edom,  for  the 
privilege  of  passing  through  his  country;  but  the  king 
refused  and  smote  the  Hebrews.  The  Israelites  fought 
valiantly  and  captured  all  the  land  of  the  Amorites. 
The  conquerors  possessed  the  land  and  dwelt  there.  And 
they  were  also  victorious  over  the  land  of  the  king  of 
Bashan.  The  Israelites  then  went  into  Moab,  and  the 
people  of  the  land  knew  of  the  destruction  of  the  Amo- 
rites and  feared  the  presence  of  the  conquering  hosts  that 
threatened  them.  So  King  Balak  sent  messengers  to 
Balaam,  saying,  "Behold,  they  cover  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  they  abide  over  against  me :  Come  now,  therefore,  I 
pray  thee,  curse  me  this  people ;  for  they  are  too  mighty 
for  me:  peradventure  I  shall  prevail,  that  we  may  smite 
them,  and  that  I  may  drive  them  out  of  the  land:  for 
I  wot  that  he  whom  thou  blessest  is  blessed,  and  he  whom 
thou  cursest  is  cursed."  God  said  to  Balaam,  **Thou 
shalt  not  go  with  them ;  thou  shalt  not  curse  the  people ; 
for  they  are  blessed."  Balak  promised  to  pay  heavily  for 
the  cursing  upon  the  adversary  multitude,  but  Balaam 
said,  "If  Balak  would  give  me  his  house  full  of  silver 
and  gold,  I  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord  my 
God,  to  do  less  or  more.  .  .  .  How  shall  I  curse,  whom 
God  hath  not  cursed?  or  how  shall  I  defy,  whom  the 
Lord  hath  not  defied?  For  from  the  top  of  the  rocks  I 
see  him,  and  from  the  hills  I  behold  him :  lo,  the  people 
shall  dwell  alone,  and  shall  not  be  reckoned  among  the 
nations.  Who  can  count  the  dust  of  Jacob,  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  fourth  part  of  Israel?  Let  me  die  the  death 
of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his!"^ 

God  repeatedly  impressed  upon  the  people  that  they 
must  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Canaan; 
otherwise  the  Canaanites  would  cause  them  to  sin  and  be 
thorns  in  their  sides,  etc. 


^Numbers,  xxiii:8-10. 


29 

MOSES  ADDRESSED  THE  HEBREWS. 

Just  before  his  death,  Moses  reviewed  to  the  nation  the 
history  of  their  doings  during  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
As  they  were  a  special  people  of  God,  he  exhorted  them 
to  fear  God,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land,  but  to  destroy  them  and  their  altars,  etc., 
because  they  would  lead  them  away  from  God.  "This 
day,"  said  the  Lord,  "will  I  begin  to  put  the  dread  of 
thee  and  the  fear  of  thee  upon  the  nations  that  are  under 
the  whole  heaven,"  etc.  Nothing  shall  resist  them  suc- 
cessfully. Moses  continued  :  "For  thou  art  an  holy  people 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God :  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen 
thee  to  be  a  special  people  unto  himself,  above  all  people 
that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  Lord  did  not 
set  his  love  upon  you,  nor  choose  you,  because  ye  were 
more  in  number  than  any  people ;  for  ye  were  the  fewest 
of  all  people :  But  because  the  Lord  loved  you,  and  be- 
cause he  would  keep  the  oath  which  he  had  sworn  unto 
your  fathers,  hath  the  Lord  brought  you  out  with  a 
mighty  hand,  and  redeemed  you  out  of  the  house  of 
bondmen,  from  the  hand  of  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt. 
Know  therefore  that  the  Lord  thy  God,  he  is  God,  the 
faithful  God,  which  keepeth  covenant  and  mercy  with 
them  that  love  him  and  keep  his  commandments  to  a 
thousand  generations.^  .  .  .  And  thou  shalt  remember 
all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee  these  forty 
years  in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee,  and  to  prove  thee, 
to  know  what  was  in  thine  heart.  .  .  .  And  he  humbled 
thee,  and  suffered  thee  to  hunger,  and  fed  thee  with 
manna,  which  thou  knewest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers 
know ;  that  he  might  make  thee  know  that  man  doth  not 
live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.    .    .    .    Thou  shalt  also 

^Deut.,  vii:6-9. 


30 

consider  in  thine  heart,  that,  as  a  man  chasteneth  his 
son,  so  the  Lord  thy  God  chasteneth  thee.''^  They  must 
be  true  to  God. 

In  all  the  wilderness  life,  the  people  were  reminded 
that  it  was  God  that  humbled  them  and  proved  them,  to 
do  them  good  at  the  latter  end ;  "that  he  may  establish 
his  covenant  which  he  sware  unto"  their  "fathers,  as  it  is 
this  day." 

God  preinformed  the  people,  as  they  were  about  to 
enter  Canaan  to  possess  it,  that  they  shall  conquer  the 
nations,  not  for  their  righteousness,  but  that  God  "may 
perform  the  word  which  the  Lord  sware  unto"  their 
"fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob" ;  and  Moses  re- 
hearsed the  rebellions  of  his  people ;  what  God  had  done 
for  them,  his  chosen  race ;  and  exhorted  them  to  be 
obedient  to  the  will  of  God ;  then  "no  man  shall  be  able 
to  stand  before  you." 

The  people  were  not  to  disfigure  themselves,  "For  thou 
art  an  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  the  Lord 
hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  peculiar  people  unto  himself, 
above  all  the  nations  that  are  upon  the  earth. "^  God 
told  them  that  they  should,  for  their  sin,  become  sub- 
ordinate to  a  nation  whom  they  neither  knew  nor  under- 
stood. "And  ye  shall  be  left  few  in  mmiber,  whereas 
ye  were  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for  multitude;  because 
thou  wouldest  not  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 
.  .  .  And  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people, 
from  one  end  of  the  earth  even  unto  the  other ;  and  there 
thou  shalt  serve  other  gods,  which  neither  thou  nor  thy 
fathers  have  known,  even  wood  and  stone.  .  .  .  These 
are  the  words  gf  the  covenant,  which  the  Lord  com- 
manded Moses  to  make  with  the  children  of  Isreal  in  the 


^  Deut.  viii:l-5. 
2  Deut.  xiv:2. 


31 

land  of  Moab,  beside  the  covenant  which  he  made  with 
them  in  Horeb."^  Moses  said  to  Israel,  "Ye  stand  this 
day,  all  of  you,  before  the  Lord  your  God ;  .  .  .  That 
thou  shouldest  enter  into  covenant  with  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  into  his  oath,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  maketh 
with  thee  this  day:  That  he  may  establish  thee  to  day 
for  a  people  unto  himself,  and  that  he  may  be  unto  thee 
a  God,  as  he  hath  said  unto  thee,  and  as  he  hath  sworn 
unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob. "^ 

But,  afterward,  when  all  these  sayings  are  come  to 
pass,  **and  thou  shall  call  them  to  mind  among  all  the 
nations,  whither  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  driven  thee.  And 
shalt  return  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  shalt  obey  his 
voice  according  to  all  that  I  command  thee  this  da}',  thou 
and  thy  children,  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul ;  That  then  the  Lord  thy  God  will  turn  thy  cap- 
tivity, and  have  compassion  upon  thee,  and  will  return 
and  gather  thee  from  all  the  nations,  whither  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  scattered  thee." 

Moses  took  farewell  of  the  people,  reciting  to  them 
that  the  Lord  had  not  permitted  him  to  enter  Canaan, 
and  exhorted  them  to  be  strong  and  courageous  and  God 
would  not  forsake  them.  He  then  charged  Joshua,  his 
successor,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  in  language 
similar  to  that  in  which  he  had  charged  Israel.  Upon 
this  occasion  Moses  wrote  a  song ;  and  he  died  on  Mount 
Nebo.  Before  his  departure,  however,  he  blessed  the 
people  and  mentioned  the  several  tribes  prophetically. 
"And  of  Joseph  he  said,  Blessed  of  the  Lord  be  his  land, 
for  the  precious  things  of  heaven,  for  the  dew,  and  for 
the  deep  that  coucheth  beneath.  And  for  the  precious 
fruits  brought  forth  by  the  sun,  and  for  the  precious 
things  put  forth  by  the  moon.  And  for  the  chief  things 


iDeut.,  xxviii:33,  34,  36,  37,  43-45,  47-51,  62,  64;  xxix:l. 
2Deut.,  xxix:10,  12,  13. 


32 

of  the  ancient  mountains,  and  for  the  precious  things  of 
the  lasting  hills,  And  for  the  precious  things  of  the 
earth  and  the  fulness  thereof,  and  for  the  good  will  of 
him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush :  let  the  blessing  come  upon 
the  head  of  Joseph,  and  upon  the  top  of  the  head  of  him 
that  was  separated  from  his  brethren.  His  glory  is  like 
the  firstling  of  his  bullock,  and  his  horns  are  like  the 
horns  of  unicorns :  with  them  he  shall  push  the  people 
together  to  the  ends  of  the  earth :  and  they  are  the  ten 
thousands  of  Ephraim,  and  they  are  the  thousands  of 
Manasseh."^ 

JOSHUA. 

After  the  death  of  Moses,  God  said  to  Joshua,  "There 
shall  not  any  man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all  the 
days  of  thy  life :  as  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I  will  be  with 
thee :  I  will  not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee." 

The  Israelites  then  went  over  Jordan,  and  passed  into 
Canaan,  the  waters  of  Jordan  dividing.  The  manna 
ceased  when  the  land  of  Canaan  was  entered,  as  there 
was  no  longer  need  of  its  continuance. 

Joshua  made  a  league  with  the  nations  of  Canaan 
which  had  allied  themselves  to  fight  Israel,  and  the 
messengers  from  the  nations,  being  found  out,  were  made 
bondmen,  hewers  of  wood,  etc. 

The  land  included  in  Canaan,  which  had  not  been 
conveyed,  was  now  divided,  Manasseh  and  Ephraim  being 
accounted  two  tribes,  and  Caleb  asked  for  and  received 
Hebron,  a  stronghold  of  the  Anakins.  "There  failed  not 
ought  of  any  good  thing  which  the  Lord  had  spoken 
unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  all  came  to  pass." 

Joshua  took  his  leave  of  the  people  just  before  his 
death,  and  spoke  of  the  great  favor  of  God  to  them  in 
the  past,  and  concluded,  "Therefore  it  shall  come  to  pass, 


1  Deut,  xxxiii:13-17. 


33 

that  as  all  good  things  are  come  upon  you,  which  the 
Lord  your  God  promised  you:  so  shall  the  Lord  bring 
upon  you  all  evil  things,  until  he  have  destroyed  you 
from  off  this  good  land  which  the  Lord  your  God  hath 
given  you."     He  then  exhorted  them  to  serve  God. 

The  book  of  Judges  continues  the  history  of  conten- 
tions with  the  Canaanites  and  Judah  was  called  to  be 
the  leader  of  the  people.  Judah  took  Jerusalem,  but 
failed  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites.  "And  an  angel  of 
the  Lord  came  up  from  Gilgal  to  Bochim,  and  said,  'I 
made  you  to  go  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  have  brought  you 
unto  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  your  fathers ;  and  I 
said,  'I  will  never  break  my  covenant  with  you.  And 
ye  shall  make  no  league  with  the  inhabitants  of  this 
land ;  ye  shall  throw  down  their  altars :'  but  ye  have 
not  obeyed  my  voice :  why  have  ye  done  this  ?  Where- 
fore I  also  said,,  'I  will  not  drive  them  out  before  you ; 
but  they  shall  be  as  thorns  in  your  sides,  and  their  gods 
shall  be  a  snare  unto  you.'  "^ 

JUDGES. 

After  the  death  of  Joshua,  the  Hebrews  were  governed 
by  judges.  Still,  God  did  not  drive  out  the  Canaanites, 
but  left  them  to  prove  Israel. 

The  next  forty  years  were  years  of  freedom  from  strife, 
but  for  the  evil  the  people  did  they  were  delivered  into 
the  hand  of  Midian.  The  great  destruction  of  men  and 
cattle  brought  the  nation  very  low.  The  fifth  judge  of 
Israel  was  Gideon,  a  man  of  valor,  but  of  an  obscure 
family.  He  was  threshing  grain  when  an  angel  came 
to  him  and  commanded  him  to  save  Israel  from  Midian. 
"And  he  said  unto  him,  'Oh,  my  Lord,  wherewith  shall 
I  save  Israel?  behold,  my  family  is  poor  in  Manasseh, 
and  I  am  the  least  in  my  father's  house.'  "     Nevertheless, 


*  Judges,  Ii:l-3. 


34 

he  obeyed.  The  three  hundred  men  who  fought  for 
Gideon  were  of  Manasseh ;  and  the  men  of  Ephraim  were 
offended  because  they  had  no  part  in  the  proceedings. 
One  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  of  the  enemy  were 
slain.  Gideon  was  requested  by  the  people  to  become 
their  king,  but  he  refused  on  the  ground  that  the  Lord 
was  their  king,  saying,  "I  will  not  rule  over  you,  neither 
shall  my  son  rule  over  you :  the  Lord  shall  rule  over  you." 
Samuel,  one  of  the  judges  and  a  prophet,  was  an 
Ephraimite.  His  mother  rejoiced  in  a  song  of  thanks- 
giving for  his  birth.  There  had  been  a  dearth  of  prophets 
and  of  prophecy  for  a  long  time. 

KINGS. 

The  conditions  of  government  under  Samuel  and  his 
sons  were  deplorable,  and  the  people  sought  this  occasion 
to  improve  authority  by  changing  from  judges  to  kings, 
and  especially  that  they  might  be  like  the  neighboring 
nations.  God  permitted  it,  although  they  had  rejected 
him  as  their  ruler,  through  judges.  Saul,  a  Benjaminite, 
and  a  large  tall  man,  was  appointed  king  by  Samuel ; 
all  the  people  shouted,  "God  save  the  king!"  and,  in 
a  speech,  Samuel  relinquished  his  judgeship.  Saul  was 
rejected  as  king;  and  David,  a  small  shepherd  boy  and 
musician,  was  chosen  and  anointed  in  his  stead.  David 
was  reanointed  king  of  Judah  only,  and  Saul's  son  Ish- 
bosheth  was  made  king  of  all  the  other  tribes.  After 
reigning  two  years,  Ishbosheth  was  slain,  and  David 
became  king  over  all  Israel. 

A  division  of  the  Hebrews  became  more  and  more 
decided,  until  it  was  distinct  in  both  fact  and  name,  the 
three  tribes  of  Judah,  Levi  and  Benjamin  were  called 
Judah  and  the  other  ten  tribes  were  called  Israel.  Israel 
refused  to  follow  David  and  followed  Sheba  instead,  and 
David  caused  Sheba  to  be  beheaded. 

Success  in  his  battles  with  the  Philistines  brought  out 


35 

David's  song  of  victory.  The  people  were  then  num- 
bered, Israel  having  eight  hundred  thousand  soldiers  and 
Judah  five  hundred  thousand,  and  David  was  sorry  that 
he  had  had  the  census  taken. 

After  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  brought  into  the  tent 
prepared  for  it,  a  sacrifice  and  festival  were  held,  and 
David  delivered  a  psalm,  in  which  he  said :  "Remember 
his  marvellous  works  that  he  hath  done,  his  wonders,  and 
the  judgments  of  his  mouth ;  O  ye  seed  of  Israel  his  ser- 
vant, ye  children  of  Jacob,  his  chosen  ones.  He  is  the 
Lord  our  God ;  his  judgments  are  in  all  the  earth.  Be 
ye  mindful  always  of  his  covenant ;  the  word  which  he 
commanded  to  a  thousand  generations ;  Even  of  the  cove- 
nant which  he  made  with  Abraham,  and  of  his  oath  unto 
Isaac;  And  hath  confirmed  the  same  to  Jacob  for  a  law, 
and  to  Israel  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  saying,  Unto 
thee  will  I  give  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  lot  of  your 
inheritance ;  when  ye  were  but  few,  even  a  few,  and 
strangers  in  it,  and  when  they  went  from  nation  to 
nation,  and  from  one  kingdom  to  another  people;  he 
suffered  no  man  to  do  them  wrong :  yea,  he  reproved  kings 
for  their  sakes,  saying.  Touch  not  mine  anointed,  and  do 
my  prophets  no  harm."^ 

Just  before  David's  death,  he  authorized  the  procla- 
mation in  favor  of  his  son  Solomon  as  king  over  Israel 
and  Judah,  and  Solomon  was  anointed  by  Nathan,  the 
prophet. 

Because  of  the  constancy  of  his  wars,  David  could  not 
build  a  temple  for  God,  but  Solomon's  reign  was  peaceful 
and  he  reared  the  temple  on  Mount  Zion  in  Jerusalem. 
Solomon  spoke  and  prayed  at  its  dedication,  referring  to 
the  separateness  of  the  nation,  "For  thou  didst  separate 
them  from  among  all  the  people  of  the  earth,  to  be  thine 

1  1   Chron.,   xvi:12-22. 


36 

inheritance,  as  thou  spakest  by  the  hand  of  Moses  thy 
servant,  when  thou  broughtest  our  fathers  out  of  Egypt." ^ 

THE    KINGDOM    DIVIDED. 

Enemies  arose  against  Solomon,  and  among  them  was 
Jeroboam,  "a  mighty  man  of  valor :  and  Solomon  seeing 
the  young  man  that  he  was  industrious,  he  made  him 
ruler  over  all  the  charge  of  the  house  of  Joseph,"^ 
Ahijah,  the  prophet,  met  Jeroboam,  and  rent  the  latter's 
new  garment  into  twelve  pieces,  and  said  to  him,  "Take 
thee  ten  pieces :  for  thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
Behold,  I  will  rend  the  kingdom  out  of  the  hand  of 
Solomon,  and  will  give  ten  tribes  to  thee :  ( But  he  shall 
have  one  tribe  for  my  servant  David's  sake,  and  for 
Jerusalem's  sake,  the  city  which  I  have  chosen  out  of 
all  the  tribes  of  Israel:)  Because  that  they  have  forsaken 
me,  and  have  worshipped  Ashtoreth  the  goddess  of  the 
Zidonians,  Chemosh  the  god  of  the  Moabites,  and  Milcom 
the  god  of  the  children  of  Ammon,  and  have  not  walked 
in  my  ways,  to  do  right  in  mine  eyes,  and  my  statutes  and 
my  judgments,  as  David  his  father.  Howbeit  I  will  not 
take  the  whole  kingdom  out  of  his  hand :  but  I  will  make 
him  prince  all  the  days  of  his  life  for  David  my  servant's 
sake,  whom  I  chose,  because  he  kept  my  commandments 
and  my  statutes :  But  I  will  take  the  kingdom  out  of  his 
son's  hand,  and  will  give  it  unto  thee,  even  ten  tribes. 
And  unto  his  son  will  I  give  one  tribe,  that  David  my 
servant  may  have  a  light  always  before  me  in  Jerusalem, 
the  city  which  I  have  chosen  me  to  put  my  name  there. 
And  I  will  take  thee,  and  thou  shalt  reign  according  to 
all  that  thy  soul  desireth,  and  shalt  be  king  over  Israel. 
And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  wilt  hearken  unto  all  that  I  com- 
mand thee,  and  wilt  walk  in  my  ways,  and  do  right  in  my 
sight,   to  keep  my  statutes   and  my  commandments,   as 


^  IKings  viii:53. 
2  IKings  xi:28. 


37 

David  my  servant  did :  that  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  build 
thee  a  sure  house,  as  I  built  for  David,  and  will  give , 
Israel  unto  thee."^     Thereupon,  Solomon  sought  the  life 
of  Jeroboam,  who  fled  to  Egypt,  where  he  remained  until 
the  death  of  Solomon. 

At  the  death  of  Solomon,  his  son  Rehoboam  came  to 
the  throne,  and  Jeroboam  was  sent  for  by  the  oppressed 
of  the  people,  who  made  an  address  to  Rehoboam,  say- 
ing, "Thy  father  made  our  yoke  grievous :  now  there- 
fore make  thou  the  grievous  service  of  thy  father,  and 
his  heavy  yoke  which  he  put  upon  us,  lighter,  and  we 
will  serve  thee."  Before  replying,  the  young  king  con- 
sulted with  his  father's  aged  advisers,  and  they  said  to 
him,  'Tf  thou  wilt  be  a  servant  unto  this  people  this 
day,  and  wilt  serve  them,  and  answer  them,  and  speak 
good  words  to  them,  then  they  will  be  thy  servants  for 
ever."  He  also  consulted  with  his  young  men  friends, 
who  advised  him  to  show  his  authority  and  so  to  reply 
to  the  people,  saying,  "My  little  iinger  shall  be  thicker 
than  my  father's  loins.  And  now  whereas  my  father 
did  lade  you  with  a  heavy  yoke,  I  will  add  to  your  yoke : 
my  father  hath  chastised  you  with  whips,  but  I  will 
chastise  you  with  scorpions."  At  the  time  appointed, 
Jeroboam  and  the  people  came  to  Rehoboam  to  receive 
the  answer  to  their  request.  Rehoboam  spoke  to  the 
people  roughly,  saying,  "My  father  made  your  yoke 
heavy,  and  I  will  add  to  your  yoke :  my  father  chastised 
you  with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  yow  with  scorpions." 
The  people  then  said  to  him,  "What  portion  have  we  in 
David?  neither  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Jesse:  to  your 
tents,  O  Israel :  now  see  to  thine  own  house,  David ;" 
and  the  ten  tribes  removed  from  Judea  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Jeroboam,  whom  they  constituted  their  king. 
Rehoboam  continued  to  reign  over  the  tribes  of  Judah 
and  Levi  and  Benjamin. 


»1  Kings  xi:31-38. 


38 

ISRAEL. 

Henceforth,  the  Hebrew  race  was  frequently  called 
Israel;  but  more  often  Judah  was  applied  to  the  tribes 
that  remained  in  Jerusalem  under  Rehoboam,  and  Israel 
to  the  ten  tribes  under  Jeroboam. 

Rehoboam  gathered  a  great  army  to  fight  Israel,  but 
went  no  further,  as  the  Lord  through  the  prophet  She- 
maiah  delivered  to  him  this  message,  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Ye  shall  not  go  up,  nor  fight  against  your  brethren 
the  children  of  Israel :  return  every  man  to  his  house : 
for  this  thing  is  from  me." 

Jeroboam  built  Shechem  and  Penuel ;  and,  for  fear 
that  his  people  would  go  to  the  temple  in  Jerusalem  to 
sacrifice,  and  he  lose  his  control  over  them,  he  made  two 
golden  calves  to  be  worshipped.  He  set  up  one  at  Bethel 
and  the  other  at  Dan,  and  said  to  the  people,  "It  is  too 
much  for  you  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem:  behold  thy  gods,  O 
Israel,  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 
.  .  .  And  he  made  an  house  of  high  places,  and  made 
priests  of  the  lowest  of  the  people,  which  were  not  of  the 
sons  of  Levi.  And  Jeroboam  ordained  a  feast  in  the 
eighth  month,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  like 
unto  the  feast  that  is  in  Judah,  and  he  oifered  upon  the 
altar.  So  did  he  in  Beth-el,  sacrificing  unto  the  calves 
that  he  had  made:  and  he  placed  in  Beth-el  the  priests 
of  the  high  places  which  he  had  made.  So  he  offered 
upon  the  altar  which  he  had  made  in  Beth-el,  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  eighth  month,  even  in  the  month  which  he 
had  devised  of  his  own  heart :  and  ordained  a  feast  unto 
the  children  of  Israel :  and  he  offered  upon  the  altar, 
and  burned  incense."  The  people  worshipped,  and  the 
worship  was  a  sin. 

A  prophet  cried  against  the  idolatry  and  the  altar  and 
the  disobedience  of  the  priest,  but  "Jeroboam  returned 
not  from  his  evil  way,  but  made  again  of  the  lowest  of 


39 

the  people  priests  of  the  high  places :  whosoever  would, 
he  consecrated  hini,  and  he  became  one  of  the  priests  of 
the  high  places.  And  this  thing  became  sin  unto  the 
house  of  Jeroboam,  even  to  cut  it  off,  and  destroy  it 
from  off  the  face  of  the  earth." 

Judah  also  relapsed  into  idolatry,  etc.,  under  Reho- 
boam;  and  the  Egyptians  came  and  took  away  all  the 
treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  of  the  king's 
house.  Rehoboam  was  also  constantly  at  war  with  Jero- 
boam and  war  often  existed  between  their  successors. 
Idol  worship  was  not  eradicated  from  either  kingdom. 

Jezebel  became  the  wife  of  Ahab,  king  over  Israel,  and 
idol  worship  was  promoted  thereby.  She  caused,  as  she 
supposed,  all  the  prophets  of  the  Lord  to  be  put  to 
death;  but  Elijah  appeared  to  Ahab  and  ordered  him 
to  assemble  the  people  at  Mount  Carmel,  where  the  great 
idol  of  Baal  was  worshipped.  There,  the  prophet  made 
the  supreme  test  of  the  power  of  Baal  and  of  God  by 
fire  in  consuming  the  sacrifice.  At  the  threat  of  Jezebel 
to  take  his  life,  he  subsequently  fled  to  the  wilderness. 
He  was  taken  to  heaven  in  a  chariot,  and  his  mantle  fell 
on  Elisha,  who  succeeded  him  as  the  prophet,  and  the 
fifty  sons  of  the  prophets  who  were  at  Jericho  bowed 
before  Elisha  and  requested  that  search  be  made  for  Eli- 
jah among  the  mountains.  Elisha  forbade  it,  but  at  last 
consented,  and  after  three  days  the  party  making  the 
search  returned,  having  been  unsuccessful. 

Syria  oppressed  Israel,  but  "the  Lord  was  gracious 
unto  them,  and  had  compassion  on  them,  because  of  his 
covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  would 
not  destroy  them,  neither  cast  he  them  from  his  presence 
as  yet."^  Finally,  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  be- 
sieged Samaria,  and,  at  the  end  of  three  years,  took  it. 
"And  the  king  of  Assyria  did  carry  away  Israel  unto 


»2  Kings,  xiii:23. 


40 

Assyria."  Some  forty  years  later,  Jerusalem  was  taken, 
its  principal  buildings  destroyed,  and  the  people  carried 
to  Babylon. 

PROPHETS  AND  PROPHECIES. 

A  prophet  was  a  person  who  had  received  a  message 
from  God,  and  was  so  impressed  by  it  that  he  felt  com- 
pelled to  tell  it.  It  came  forth  naturally  from  him, — 
he  could  not  keep  it  to  himself.  Communications  might 
be  by  visions  or  dreams,  naturally  as  being  visual  or 
heard,  an  impression  so  strong  and  forceful  that  the 
recipient  was  compelled  to  formulate  and  announce  it, 
though  he  was  not  aware  of  a  particular  impartation  of 
any  communication, — physical,  mental  or  spiritual.  It 
might  be  to  command  action,  or  inaction,  declare  admon- 
itions or  to  foretell  events. 

Schools  of  the  prophets,  which  were  established  by 
Samuel,  first  at  Ramah,  and  afterwards  at  Bethel,  Jericho 
and  Gilgal,  were  a  kind  of  theological  institution.  The 
students  became  proficient  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
law,  and  performed  pastoral  and  patriotic  duties. 

Though  the  schools  of  the  prophets  furnished  most 
of  the  prophets  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  mes- 
sages from  God  and  prophecies  were  not  confined  to 
them.  God  used  various  instruments  as  well  as  many 
ways  to  communicate  his  mind  to  the  people. 

Most  of  the  prophetical  writings  were  confined  to 
warnings  to  the  people  of  the  time  of  the  writers  of 
the  disastrous  effect  of  wrong-doing,  and  the  blessings 
that  would  follow  righteousness,  and  were  often  spoken 
on  particular  occasions  or  in  relation  to  some  expressed 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  people. 

By  the  prophet  Zechariah  God  said :  "As  ye  were  a 
curse  among  the  heathen,  O  house  of  Judah,  and  house 
of  Israel ;  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye  shall  be  a  blessing : 
fear  not,  let  your  hands  be  strong." 


41 

"I  will  strengthen  the  house  of  Judah,  and  I  will  save 
the  house  of  Joseph,  and  I  will  bring  them  again  to  place 
them ;  for  I  will  have  mercy  upon  them :  and  they  shall 
be  as  though  I  had  not  cast  them  off;  for  I  am  the 
Lord  their  God,  and  will  hear  them.  And  they  of  Eph- 
raim  shall  be  like  a  mighty  man,  and  their  heart  shall 
rejoice  as  through  wine :  yea,  thine  children  shall  see  it, 
and  be  glad ;  their  heart  shall  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  I 
will  hiss  for  them,  and  gather  them ;  for  I  have  redeemed 
them:  and  they  shall  increase  as  they  have  increased. 
And  I  will  sow  them  among  the  people :  and  they  shall 
remember  me  in  far  countries ;  and  they  shall  live  with 
their  children,  and  turn  again. "■'^ 

The  prophecy  of  Amos  concerns  all  Israel,  its  destruc- 
tion and  its  restoration.  "Hear  this  word  that  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  against  you,  O  children  of  Israel,  against 
the  whole  family  which  I  brought  up  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  saying,  'You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  fami- 
lies of  the  earth :  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your 
iniquities/'  "Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the  good,  and 
establish  judgment  in  the  gate:  it  may  be  that  the  Lord 
God  of  hosts  will  be  gracious  unto  the  remnant  of 
Joseph."  "Behold,  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  God  upon  the 
sinful  kingdom,  and  I  will  destroy  it  from  off  the  face 
of  the  earth;  saying  that  I  will  not  utterly  destroy  the 
house  of  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord.  For,  lo,  I  will  com- 
mand, and  I  will  sift  the  house  of  Israel  among  all 
nations,  like  as  corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve,  yet  shall  not 
the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth. "^  This  prophecy  of 
Amos  is  not  only  apparently  fulfilled  in  the  later  life 
of  the  Jews,  but  is  probably  specially  applicable  to  the 
house  of  Israel,  that  is  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  as 


iZech.,  x:6-9. 
-  Amos  ix:8,  9. 


42 

Jesus,  in  his  time  even,  sought  here  and  there  for  scat- 
tered ones  of  the  house  of  Israel,  saying,  "I  am  not  sent 
but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."^  This 
prophecy  promises  that  they  shall  be  preserved.  Some- 
where, this  scattered  people  of  Israel  are  in  existence, 
and  shall,  when  duly  prepared  by  suffering,  trial  and 
self-abnegnation  in  the  school  of  God,  accomplish  the 
work  of  salvation  and  blessing  to  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  It  may  be  that  some  who,  for  instance,  are  called 
Germans  are  really  the  children  of  Ephraim  and  Manas- 
seh,  and  they  will  become  the  instruments  of  salvation 
to  the  German  race ;  that  others  who  are  apparently 
French,  or  Italian,  or  Spanish,  or  English,  or  others  of 
the  countries  in  which  they  dwell  and  of  whose  nation- 
ality they  seem  to  be  a  part,  are  really  of  the  descendants 
of  Ephraim  or  Manasseh.  Gods  knows;  we  do  not. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  in  this  connection  that  when  the 
early  Christians  were  scattered  abroad  by  persecution, 
they  went  everywhere  preaching  the  Word.  So  this  scat- 
tering of  the  individuals  of  the  house  of  Israel  was  done 
for  two  purposes :  first,  to  humble  them  individually, 
nationally  and  racially,  and,  second,  to  involuntarily  sow 
the  seed  of  their  personality  and  the  truth  which  they 
possessed  throughout  the  entire  world. 

God  declared  that  he  would  cause  to  cease  the  king- 
dom of  the  house  of  Israel ;  and  said,  "I  will  no  more 
have  mercy  upon  the  house  of  Israel ;  but  I  will  utterly 
take  them  away.  .  .  .  Yet  the  number  of  the  children 
of  Israel  shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot 
be  measured  nor  numbered ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  in 
the  place  where  it  was  said  unto  them,  *Ye  are  not  my 
people,'  it  shall  be  said  of  them,  *Ye  are  the  sons  of  the 
living  God.'  Then  shall  the  children  of  Judah  and  the 
children  of  Israel  be  gathered  together  and  appoint  them- 


^  Matthew  xv:24. 


43 

selves  one  head,"  Eventually,  "I  will  sow  her  unto  me 
in  the  earth;  and  I  will  have  mercy  upon  her  that  had 
not  obtained  mercy;  and  I  will  say  to  them  which  were 
not  my  people,  'Thou  art  my  people' :  and  they  shall  say, 
'Thou  art  my  God.'  " 

"Therefore  will  I  be  unto  Ephriam  as  a  moth,  and 
to  the  house  of  Judah  as  rottenness."  "O  Ephraim,  what 
shall  I  do  unto  thee?  O  Judah,  what  shall  I  do  unto 
thee?  for  your  goodness  is  as  a  moving  cloud,  and  as 
the  early  dew  it  goeth  away." 

"Ephraim  also  is  like  a  silly  dove  without  a  heart : 
they  call  to  Egypt,  they  go  to  Assyria."  Looking  not  to 
God,  but  to  Egypt,  the  type  of  the  world,  they  go  directly 
into  captivity. 

"Israel  is  an  empty  vine,  he  bringeth  forth  fruit  unto 
himself."  Selfishness  is  not  an  element  of  preparation 
for  being  a  blessing  to  others. 

"Ephraim  is  smitten,  their  root  is  dried  up,  they  shall 
bear  no  fruit :  yea,  though  they  bring  forth,  yet  will  I 
slay  even  the  beloved  fruit  of  their  womb.  My  God 
will  cast  them  away,  because  they  did  not  hearken  unto 
him :  and  they  shall  be  wanderers  amongst  the  nations." 

God  made  a  covenant  with  all  Israel  that  all  blessings 
would  follow  the  race  if  they  were  obedient  to  him,  and 
they  should  dwell  securely  in  Judea.  But  they  wor- 
shipped idols  and  ignored  his  exclusiveness.  This  could 
not  be  allowed  to  continue,  as  it  was  incompatible  with 
the  training  prepared  for  the  children  of  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh  under  the  covenant  made  with  Abraham.  Is- 
rael utterly  rejected  the  prescribed  religious  service  of 
God  in  the  temple,  and  Judah  continued  to  follow  it 
profunctorily,  while  her  heart  was  away  from  God  with 
the  worshippers  of  Baal,  in  spirit  if  not  in  fact. 

The  prophet  Jeremiah  said:  "The  Lord  said  also  unto 
me  in  the  days  of  Josiah  the  king,  Hast  thou  seen  that 


44 

which  backsliding  Israel  hath  done?  she  is  gone  up  on 
every  high  mountain  and  under  every  green  tree,  and 
there  hath  played  the  harlot.  And  I  said  after  she  had 
done  all  these  things,  'Turn  thou  unto  me.'  But  she 
returned  not.  And  her  treacherous  sister  Judah  saw  it. 
And  I  saw,  when  for  all  the  causes  whereby  backsliding 
Israel  had  committed  adultery  I  had  put  her  away,  and 
given  her  a  bill  of  divorce;  yet  her  treacherous  sister 
Judah  feared  not,  but  went  and  played  the  harlot  also. 
.  .  .  And  yet  for  all  this  her  treacherous  sister  Judah 
hath  not  turned  unto  me  with  her  whole  heart,  but  feign- 
edly,  saith  the  Lord.  .  .  .  The  backsliding  Israel  hath 
justified  herself  more  than  treacherous  Judah.  Go  and 
proclaim  these  words  toward  the  north,  and  say,  Return 
thou  backsliding  Israel,  saith  the  Lord;  and  I  will  not 
cause  mine  anger  to  fall  upon  you:  for  I  am  merciful, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  not  keep  anger  forever.  .  . 
In  those  days  the  house  of  Judah  shall  walk  with  the 
house  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  come  together  out  of  the 
land  of  the  north  to  the  land  that  I  have  given  for  an 
inheritance  unto  their  fathers." 

"The  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah  have 
dealt  very  treacherously  against  me,  saith  the  Lord.  .  .  . 
Lo,  I  will  bring  a  nation  upon  you  from  afar,  O  house 
of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord:  it  is  a  mighty  nation,  it  is  an 
ancient  nation,  a  nation  whose  language  thou  knowest 
not,  neither  understandest  what  they  say.  .  .  .  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  when  ye  shall  say.  'Wherefore  doeth 
the  Lord  our  God  all  these  things  unto  us?'  then  shalt 
thou  answer  them,  'Like  as  ye  have  forsaken  me,  and 
served  strange  gods  in  your  land,  so  shall  ye  serve 
strangers  in  a  land  that  is  not  yours.'  Declare  this  in 
the  house  of  Jacob,  and  publish  it  in  Judah."  "And  I 
will  cast  you  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have  cast  out  all  your 
brethren,  even  the  whole  seed  of  Ephraim." 


45 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  They  shall  thoroughly 
glean  the  remnant  of  Israel  as  a  vme.  .  .  .  Behold,  a 
people  Cometh  from  the  north  country,  and  a  great  na- 
tion shall  be  raised  from  the  sides  of  the  earth." 

"Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord, 
that  it  shall  no  more  be  said.  The  Lord  liveth,  that 
brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt ;  But,  the  Lord  liveth,  that  brought  up  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  from  the  land  of  the  north,  and  from  all 
the  lands  whither  he  had  driven  them :  and  I  will  bring 
them  again  into  their  land  that  I  gave  unto  their  fathers. 
Behold,  I  will  send  for  many  fishers,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  they  shall  fish  them ;  and  after  will  send  for  many 
hunters,  and  they  shall  hunt  from  every  mountain,  and 
from  every  hill,  and  out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks." 

"In  his  days  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and  Israel  shall 
dwell  safely:  and  this  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be 
called.  The  Lord  our  Righteousness.  .  .  .  But,  The  Lord 
liveth,  w^hich  brought  up  and  which  led  the  seed  of  the 
house  of  Israel  out  of  the  north  country,  and  from  all 
countries  whither  I  had  driven  them;  and  they  shall 
dwell  in  their  own  land." 

The  prophet  then  wrote  of  the  restoration  of  Israel : 
"Sing  with  gladness  for  Jacob,  and  shout  among  the 
chief  of  the  nations :  publish  ye,  praise  ye,  and  say,  O 
Lord,  save  thy  people,  the  remnant  of  Israel.  Behold, 
I  will  bring  them  from  the  north  country,  and  gather 
them  from  the  coasts  of  the  earth,  and  with  them  the 
blind  and  the  lame,  the  woman  with  child  and  her  that 
travaileth  with  child  together :  a  great  company  shall 
return  thither.  ...  I  am  a  father  to  Israel,  and 
Ephraim  is  my  firstborn.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
O  ye  nations,  and  declare  it  in  the  isles  afar  off,  and  say, 
He  that  scattered  Israel  will  gather  him,  and  keep  him, 
as  a  shepherd  doth  his  flock.     For  the  Lord  hath  re- 


46 

deemed  Jacob,  and  ransomed  him  from  the  hand  of  him 
that  was  stronger  than  he.  .  .  .1  have  surely  heard 
Ephraim  bemoaning  himself  thus;  Thou  hast  chastised 
me,  and  I  was  chastised  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to 
the  yoke :  turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  be  turned ;  for  thou 
surely  art  the  Lord  my  God.  ...  Is  Ephraim  my  dear 
son?  is  he  a  pleasant  child?  for  since  I  spake  against 
him,  I  do  earnestly  remember  him  still :  therefore  my 
bowels  are  troubled  for  him ;  I  will  surely  have  mercy 
upon  him,  saith  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Behold,  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with 
the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah:  Not 
according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers 
in  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  bring  them 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  which  my  covenant  they  brake, 
although  I  was  an  husband  unto  them,  saith  the  Lord : 
But  this  shall  be  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with 
the  house  of  Israel ;  After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord, 
I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
their  hearts;  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be 
my  people." 

The  people  of  the  house  of  Israel  shall,  through  their 
slavery  and  privation  and  loss,  for  many  centuries,  be 
prepared  for  the  service  they  were  called  unto.  How 
long  a  time  must  elapse  before  this  is  accomplished  de- 
pends, not  upon  God,  but  upon  the  learners.  They  could 
not  fulfil  their  mission  under  the  covenant  made  with 
Abraham  until  they  were  duly  fitted  for  the  great  work 
when  that  time  should  come. 

"In  those  days,  and  in  that  time,  saith  the  Lord,  the 
children  of  Israel  shall  come,  they  and  the  children  of 
Judah  together,  .  .  .  saying,  Come,  and  let  us  join 
ourselves  to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall 
not  be  forgotten.  My  people  hath  been  lost  sheep :  their 
shepherds   have   caused   them   to   go   astray,    they   have 


47 

turned  them  away  on  the  mountains :  they  have  gone 
from  mountain  to  hill,  they  have  forgotten  their  resting 
place.  .  .  .  Israel  is  a  scattered  sheep ;  the  lions  have 
driven  him  away :  first  the  king  of  Assyria  hath  devoured 
him ;  and  last  this  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Babylon 
hath  broken  his  bones.  ...  I  will  bring  Israel  again 
to  his  habitation,  and  he  shall  feed  on  Carmel  and  Bashan, 
and  his  soul  shall  be  satisfied  upon  Mount  Ephraim 
and   Gilead." 

The  prophet  Isaiah  recognizes  that  out  of  the  multi- 
tude "  a  very  small  remnant"  of  the  faithful  is  left, 
however,  having  been  through  the  fire  of  preparation 
with  success.  "I  will  turn  my  hand  upon  thee,  and 
thoroughly  purge  away  thy  dross,  and  will  take  away 
thy  alloy,"  until  at  last  "thou  shalt  be  called  'The  city 
of  righteousness,  the  faithful  city.'  " 

Isaiah  is  the  prophet  who,  seven  hundred  years  before, 
gave  in  detail  the  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 
He  said  to  Ahaz :  "The  Lord  himself  shall  give  you  a 
sign ;  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son, 
and  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel."  "And  it  shall  come 
to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  remnant  of  Israel,  and  such 
as  are  escaped  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  shall  no  more 
again  stay  upon  him  that  smote  them;  but  shall  stay 
upon  the  Lord,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  in  truth.  The 
remnant  shall  return,  even  the  remnant  of  Jacob,  unto 
the  mighty  God.  For  though  thy  people  Israel  be  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea,  yet  a  remnant  of  them  shall  return: 
the  consumption  decreed  shall  overflow  with  righteous- 
ness." 

"There  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse, 
and  a  Branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots :  And  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
understanding,    the    spirit    of    counsel    and    might,    the 
spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  And 


48 

shall  make  him  of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord :  and  he  shall  not  judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes, 
neither  reprove  after  the  hearing  of  his  ears :  But  with 
righteousness  shall  he  judge  the  poor,  and  reprove  with 
equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth :  .  .  .  For  the  earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea.  And  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a  root 
of  Jesse,  which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  people ; 
to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek:  and  his  rest  shall  be  glo- 
rious. And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again  the  second  time  to  recover 
the  remnant  of  his  people,  which  shall  be  left,  from 
Assyria,  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros,  and  from 
Cush,  and  from  Elam,  and  from  Shinar,  and  from 
Hamath,  and  from  the  islands  of  the  sea.  And  he  shall 
set  up  an  ensign  for  the  nations,  and  shall  assemble  the 
outcasts  of  Israel,  and  gather  together  the  dispersed  of 
Judah  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  The  envy  also 
of  Ephraim  shall  depart,  and  the  adversaries  of  Judah 
shall  be  cut  off:  Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah,  and 
Judah  shall  not  vex  Ephraim.  But  they  shall  fly  upon 
the  shoulders  of  the  Philistines  toward  the  west :  they 
shall  spoil  them  of  the  east  together;  they  shall  lay 
their  hand  upon  Edom  and  Moab;  and  the  children  of 
Ammon  shall  obey  them.  .  .  .  And  there  shall  be  a 
highway  for  the  remnant  of  his  people,  which  shall  be 
left,  from  Assyria;  like  as  it  was  to  Israel  in  the  day 
that  he  came  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  This 
prophesies  the  coming  of  Jesus,  and  his  mission  and 
accomplishments.  Spirit  and  its  works,  through  him 
largely,  is  the  new  and  powerful  element  that  shall  per- 
fect the  human  instruments  and  make  them  the  means 
of  producing  these  great  and  beneficent  and  wonderful 
things  and  conditions. 

The  prophet  foresees  great  changes  in  the  earth,  and 
the  futility  of  human  action,  because  of  its  misdirection. 


49 

Isaiah  returned  again  to  what  he  had  seen  in  prophetic 
vision  relative  to  the  chosen  instruments.     "But  thou, 
Israel,  art  my  servant,  Jacob  whom  I  have  chosen,  the 
seed  of  Abraham  my  friend.     Thou  whom  I  have  taken 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth,   and  called  thee  from  the 
chief  men  thereof,  and  said  unto  thee,  Thou  art  my  ser- 
vant ;    I    have   chosen   thee,    and   not   cast   thee    away." 
"Behold  my  servant,  whom  I  uphold:  mine  elect,  in  whom 
my  soul   delighteth ;    I   have  put  my  spirit  upon  him : 
he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles.     He  shall 
not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in 
the  street.     A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the 
smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench:  he  shall  bring  forth 
judgment   unto    truth.     He   shall   not   fail   nor   be   dis- 
couraged, till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth :  and  the 
isles   shall   wait   for  his   law."      "Ye   are  my  witnesses, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  my  servant  whom  I  have  chosen: 
that  ye  may  know  and  believe  me,  and  understand  that 
I  am  he.   .    .    .  This  people  have  I  formed  for  myself; 
they  shall  shew  forth  my  praise."     "For  Jacob  my  ser- 
vant's sake,  and  Israel  mine  elect,  I  have  even  called  thee 
by  thy  name :  I  have  surnamed  thee,  though  thou  hast 
not  known  me." 

The  prophet  refreshes  the  memory  of  the  divinely 
appointed  instruments  of  his  will,  giving  the  message  of 
God :  "Hearken  unto  me,  O  house  of  Jacob,  and  all  the 
remnant  of  the  house  of  Israel.  .  .  .  Remember  the 
former  things  of  old :  for  I  am  God.  .  .  .  Declaring 
the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  from  ancient  times 
the  things  that  are  not  yet  done,  saying.  My  counsel 
shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure." 

The  servant  of  the  Lord  is  awakened  to  his  mission. 
"Listen,  O  isles,  unto  me ;  and  hearken,  ye  people,  from 
afar;  ...  in  his  quiver  hath  he  hid  me;  And  said 
unto  me,  Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  will 
be  glorified.  .   .   .  And  now,  saith  the  Lord  that  formed 


so 

me  from  the  womb  to  be  his  servant,  to  bring  Jacob 
again  to  him,  Though  Israel  be  not  gathered,  yet  shall 
I  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  my  God  shall 
be  my  strength.  And  he  said,  'It  is  a  light  thing  that 
thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of 
Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel :  I  will  also 
give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest 
be  my  salvation  unto  the  end  of  the  earth.'  "^ 

"Sing,  O  barren,  thou  that  didst  not  bear;  break  forth 
into  singing,  and  cry  aloud,  thou  that  didst  not  travail 
with  child :  for  more  are  the  children  of  the  desolate 
than  of  the  married  wife,  saith  the  Lord.  Enlarge  the 
place  of  thy  tent,  and  let  them  stretch  forth  the  curtains 
of  thine  habitations :  spare  not,  lengthen  thy  cords,  and 
strengthen  thy  stakes:  For  thou  shalt  break  forth  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ;  and  thy  seed  shall  inherit 
the  Gentiles.  .  .  .  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken 
thee;  but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.  In  a 
little  wrath  I  hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a  moment :  but 
with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on  thee, 
saith  the  Lord  thy  Redeemer.  For  this  is  as  the  waters 
of  Noah  unto  me :  for  as  I  have  sworn  that  the  waters 
of  Noah  should  no  more  go  over  the  earth ;  so  have  I 
sworn  that  I  would  not  be  wroth  with  thee,  nor  rebuke 
thee.  For  the  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be 
removed ;  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee, 
neither  shall  the  covenant  of  my  peace  be  removed,  saith 
the  Lord  that  hath  mercy  on  thee." 


*  Isaiah  xlix:l-6. 


REVELATION  OF  GOD  IN  JESUS 

Man  was  made  innocent,  and  with  every  reason  to 
remain  so.  Personally  associated  with  God,  with  the 
companionship  of  Eve  and  dominion  over  all  things,  his 
only  employment  was  the  keeping  of  his  home  in  order. 
Through  the  influence  of  imperfect  knowledge  of  God's 
commands,  producing  the  power  of  sight  over  faith,  they 
became  estranged  from  God. 

Second,  God  removed  every  law  from  them,  but  con- 
science and  the  natural  law  of  cause  and  eifect.  This 
resulted  in  a  condition  of  absolute  anarchy.  Brute  force 
controlled,  and  only  the  physically  fit  survived. 

Third,  under  Noah  a  sort  of  theocracy  was  established, 
and  this  very  soon  ended  in  Babel,  the  confusion  of 
tongues  and  total  disregard  of  God's  promises. 

Fourth,  innocence,  freedom  and  theocratic  government 
having  failed,  a  deeper,  broader  and  more  comprehensive 
plan  was  begun  in  the  call  of  Abram.  The  idea  was 
that  a  human  instrument  must  be  employed  to  reach  man- 
kind, and  bring  the  estranged  children  of  God  back  to  the 
Father's  house  and  the  consciousness  of  the  Father's  affec- 
tion and  care.  This  peculiar  people  were  to  be  prepared 
for  their  assigned  service,  by  course  of  training, — in 
revelation  through  the  prophets,  in  suffering,  slavery  and 
privation.  Nevertheless,  the  purpose  was  not  wholly 
accomplished,  as  indeed  from  the  beginning  it  is  apparent 
that  it  would  not  be  without  another  power  and  influence 
which,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  would  appear  to  complete 
the  work  which  Abram  began  under  the  promises.  All 
through  the  Scriptures,  references  are  made  to  one  who 
shall  come  in  the  future,  to  be,  as  they  assumed  from  the 
language  of  the  prophecies,  the  king  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
to  be  all  in  all  to  them,  the  earthly  redeemer  of  their  race. 

SI 


52 

Fifth,  not  only  was  such  a  ruler  promised,  but  before 
his  advent  a  herald  or  annunciator  would  come  to  prepare 
the  way  for  his  appearance. 

The  Hebrews  and  all  other  peoples  of  the  centuries 
before  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  with  isolated  individ- 
ual exceptions,  were  materialistic,  and  earthly  ambition 
their  goal.  The  people  of  the  promise,  this  peculiar 
people  of  God,  were  by  various  means  brought  into  a 
higher  state  of  knowledge  and  consciousness  of  himself; 
but  still  with  the  attitude  that  he  was  distant,  austere  and 
just,  and  with  very  little  discernment  of  his  fatherliness, 
affection,  mercy  and  care.  Though  many  believed  right- 
ly, they  felt  that  they  were  simply  like  potter's  clay  in 
God's  hands,  and  their  inferiority  to  him  made  it  im- 
possible to  contemplate  communion  or  a  close  and  endear- 
ing friendship  with  him.  Enoch  was  the  rare  exception 
to  this  state  of  mind,  and  he  was  known  as  the  friend  of 
God.  This  feeling  must  be  removed  before  man,  like 
the  prodigal,  would  feel  free  to  approach  his  Father's 
house.  God  must  be  revealed  to  every  heart  and  mind 
as  he  really  is.  Jesus  came  to  instruct  a  few  teachers 
by  person,  words,  acts  and  life,  in  the  love,  knowledge  and 
power  of  God.^  He  came  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,^ 
and  to  "preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor;  .  .  to  heal  the 
brokenhearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."^ 

JESUS. 

The  promises  of  God  had  apparently  utterly  failed. 
The  entire  Hebrew  race  had  now  lost  its  identity  in 
other  countries  and  in  the  midst  of  other  peoples.  Only 
the  promises  of  a  captain  of  salvation  remained.  They 
longed  for  and  their  eyes  were  strained  to  discover  an 


^  John  xvii:9. 
2  John  xviii:37. 
•Luke  iv:18. 19. 


53 

"ensign  of  the  people."^  So,  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
the  voice  of  John  was  heard,  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord;"  and  the  multitude  went  unto  this  strange  preach- 
er, who  took  up  his  work  not  where  men  congregated  in 
the  city,  but  in  the  wilderness.  The  priests  in  Jeru- 
salem were  greatly  interested  in  him  and  his  message,  and 
sent  messengers  to  him  to  inquire  who  he  was.  At  last 
they  secured  from  him  the  answer  that  he  was  only  a 
Voice  (the  phone  in  the  Greek) — only  a  sound, — his 
message  was  all  there  was  to  him.  Such  abnegation ! — 
that  he  might  be  forgotten  and  only  the  name  of  him 
whom  he  announced  should  be  remembered.  At  length, 
about  B.  C.  4,  the  Messiah  was  born,  and  was  baptized 
by  John.  The  greatest  fact  in  the  evolution  of  this 
school  of  preparation  for  service  is  the  advent  of  Jesus. 
He  is  spokesman  of  God  to  "us."  "At  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  manners"  God  "spake  unto  the  fathers  by 
the  prophets;"  but  now  "unto  us  by  his  Son."-  Now 
"the  kindness  and  love  of  God  our  saviour  toward  man 
appeared."^ 

Matthew  gives  the  descent  of  Joseph,  the  reputed 
father  of  Jesus,  from  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  but 
the  ancestry  of  Mary,  the  mother,  is  not  mentioned. 

Under  a  decree  of  Caesar  Augustus  that  every  one 
should  be  taxed  in  the  city  to  which  each  belonged,  Joseph 
and  Mary  went  to  Bethlehem  for  that  purpose;  and 
during  the  few  days  that  they  remained  there  Jesus 
was  born.  So  many  people  had  come  for  the  same  pur- 
pose there  were  no  lodgings  that  could  be  secured; 
therefore,  it  happened  that  their  shelter  was  a  stable, 
and  in  that  place  the  Saviour  was  born  with  a  manger  for 
his  crib. 

"And  there  were  in  the  same  country  shepherds  abiding 
in   the  field,  keeping  watch   over   their  flock  by  night. 

^  Isaiah  xi:10. 
2  Hebrews  i:li  2. 
'  Titus  iii:4. 


54 

And,  lo,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  upon  them,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round  about  them:  and  they 
were  sore  afraid.  And  the  angel  said  unto  them,  'Fear 
not:  for,  behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy, 
which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this 
day  in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the 
Lord.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you;  Ye  shall  find 
the  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes,  lying  in  a  man- 
ger. And  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multi- 
tude of  the  heavenly  host  praising  God,  and  saying, 
Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good 
will  toward  men.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  the  angels 
were  gone  away  from  them  into  heaven,  the  shepherds 
said  one  to  another,  Let  us  now  go  even  unto  Bethlehem, 
and  see  this  thing  which  is  come  to  pass,  which  the  Lord 
hath  made  known  unto  us.'  And  they  came  with  haste, 
and  found  Mary,  and  Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  a 
manger.  And  when  they  had  seen  it,  they  made  known 
abroad  the  saying  which  was  told  them  concerning  this 
child.  And  all  they  that  heard  it  wondered  at  those 
things  which  were  told  them  by  the  shepherds.  But 
Mary  kept  all  these  things,  and  pondered  them  in  her 
heart.  And  the  shepherds  returned,  glorifying  and  prais- 
ing God  for  all  the  things  that  they  had  heard  and  seen, 
as  it  was  told  unto  them."^ 

For  hundreds  of  years  the  prophecy  of  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah  was  known  by  nations  other  than  the 
Hebrews,  and  when  the  magi  or  astrologers  of  the  far  east 
saw  a  new  star  exceedingly  bright,  they  believed  it  must 
portend  some  great  event.  How  these  astrologers  knew 
it  was  a  star  sent  to  guide  them  to  the  place  of  the 
birth  of  the  promised  king  of  the  Jews  can  hardly  be 
imagined,  if  they  were  gentiles;  or,  were  they  of  the 
dispersed  of  Israel?  It  has  been  said  that  the  wise  men 
were   three   in   number,    and   that    each,    independently 

» Luke  ii:8-20.  .   _    . 


55 

of  the  others,  noticed  the  star  and  followed  it  until  they 
came  together.  From  that  time  on,  they  apparently 
disregarded  the  star,  and  talked  of  the  birth  of  the  king. 
They  argued  that  Jerusalem  must  be  their  objective  place 
as  of  course  he  would  be  born  in  the  Holy  City.  On 
arriving  there,  they  found  no  evidence  that  anything 
extraordinary  had  occurred.  These  rich  men  of  the  east 
easily  had  audience  with  Herod  and  asked  "Where  is 
he  that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews,  for  we  have  seen  his 
star  in  the  east,  and  are  come  to  worship  him."  Herod 
gathered  all  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the  people 
together  and  asked  them  about  the  prophecy  of  the 
place  of  the  birth  of  the  Messiah.  They  informed  him 
that  Bethlehem  should  be  his  birthplace.  "Then  Herod, 
when  he  had  privily  called  the  wise  men,  enquired  of 
them  diligently  what  time  the  star  appeared.  And  he 
sent  them  to  Bethlehem,  and  said,  'Go  and  search  dili- 
gently for  the  young  child;  and  when  ye  have  found 
him,  bring  me  word  again,  that  I  may  come  and  worship 
him  also.'  When  they  had  heard  the  king,  they  de- 
parted; and,  lo,  the  star,  which  they  saw  in  the  east, 
went  before  them,  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the 
young  child  was.  When  they  saw  the  star,  they  re- 
joiced with  exceeding  great  joy."^ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  first  course  of  the  star  was 
westerly,  the  course  of  all  stars;  and  if  the  magi  had 
followed  the  course  of  the  star  instead  of  being  led  by 
their  knowledge,  they  would  not  have  gone  to  Jerusalem, 
but  directly  to  Bethlehem.  By  following  their  own 
knowledge  instead  of  the  star  they  placed  the  life  of 
Jesus  immediately  in  danger  by  informing  Herod  of  his 
birth.  However,  when  they  started  from  Jerusalem  for 
Bethlehem,  the  star  appeared  and  led  them  an  unnatural 
southern  course.  With  what  "exceeding  great  joy"  they 
rejoiced  when  they  saw  the  star  upon  leaving  Jerusalem, 


iMatt.   ii:7-10. 


56 

is  emphasized  by  their  knowledge  of  the  courses  of  stars. 
Still  more  ,God  intervened,  and  in  a  dream  warned  them 
not  to  return  to  Herod  to  give  him  particulars  of  the 
birth,  but  to  return  to  the  east  in  another  way;  and 
Joseph  also  was  similarly  warned  to  flee  into  Egypt  with 
the  young  child  and  his  mother,  for  their  lives.  Their 
immediate  compliance  with  the  dream  caused  the  child 
to  be  saved  from  the  awful  slaughter  of  the  babes  of 
Bethlehem,  which  followed  by  order  of  Herod. 

After  the  death  of  Herod,  Joseph  and  his  family  re- 
turned, settling  at  Nazareth,  in   Galilee. 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  the  time  of  confirmation,  Jesus 
went  with  his  parents  to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate  the  pass- 
over  and  apparently  to  be  confirmed.  He  astonished 
the  learned  examiners  by  his  insight  into  truth  and 
spiritual  things.  At  length,  in  his  eagerness,  he  ques- 
tioned them. 

In  his  twenties,  he  had  all  classes  of  temptations  that 
fall  to  man, — that  of  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil ; 
and  became  victor  in  each  struggle. 

At  thirty,  he  commenced  preaching  the  gospel,  at 
first  in  the  synagogue  on  the  sabbath;  and  from  his  dis- 
ciples chose  twelve  apostles  to  be  his  special  class  of 
learners. 

Coincident  with  his  preaching,  healing  was  exercised. 
Popular  favor  was  soon  bestowed  upon  him  immeasur- 
ably, and  after  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  he  per- 
ceived the  wish  of  the  multitude  that  he  might  be  their 
king,  which  the  disciples  themselves  believed  he  would 
become;  and  James  and  John  requested  that  they  might 
sit  on  either  side  of  him  in  his  glory. 

Ah,  the  awakening !  The  first  lesson  must  be  given 
now  to  his  disciples ;  the  success  and  notoriety  of  Jesus 
was  something  that  was  not  good  for  them  to  glory  in. 
Seeing  the  multitudes,  he  slipped  away  into  the  mountain, 
— the    disciples    followed   him,    the   multitude   did   not. 


57 

The  first  lesson  was  long  and  broad,  and  related  to  what 
they  were  to  be  and  do.  He  "taught  them,  saying, 
Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit :  for  their's  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn:  for  they  shall 
be  comforted.  Blessed  are  the  meek :  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth.  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness  :  for  they  shall  be  filled.  Blessed 
are  the  merciful :  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy.  Blessed 
are  the  poor  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God.  Blessed 
are  the  peacemakers :  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children 
of  God.  Blessed  are  they  w^hich  are  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake :  for  their's  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  revile  you,  and  persecute 
you,  and  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for 
my  sake.  Rejoice,  and  be  exceeding  glad :  for  great  is 
your  reward  in  heaven :  for  so  persecuted  they  the  proph- 
ets which  were  before  you.  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth:  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  savour,  wherewith 
shall  it  be  salted?  it  is  thenceforth  good  for  nothing, 
but  to  be  cast  out,  and  to  be  trodden  under  foot  of  men. 
Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city  that  is  set  on  a 
hill  cannot  be  hid.  Neither  do  men  light  a  candle,  and 
put  it  under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  candlestick ;  and  it  giveth 
light  unto  all  that  are  in  the  house.  Let  your  light  so 
shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good  works, 
and  glorify  your  father  which  is  in  heaven'."^ 

The  multitude  waited  until  his  return,  and  he  con- 
tinued healing  many  of  the  people,  including  the  servant 
of  the  centurion,  and  then  w^ent  into  Peter's  house.  The 
multitude  remained ;  and  with  his  disciples  he  then  went 
into  a  ship  to  cross  the  sea. 

The  healed  naturally  wished  to  be  with  Jesus ;  but  that 
was  not  the  purpose  of  their  healing.  They  must  wit- 
ness to  the  beneficence  of  God  among  their  own  people. 

When  he  saw  the  multitudes,  Jesus  was  moved  with 


1  Matthew  v:2-16. 


58 

compassion,  as  they  appeared  to  have  no  shepherd,  and 
he  was  led  to  say,  "The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but 
the  labourers  are  few."  He  therefore  sent  forth  the 
twelve  apostles,  saying  to  them,  "Go  not  into  the  way  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans  enter 
ye  not :  But  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel."^  "For  the  son  of  man  is  come  to  save  that 
which  was  lost."^  He  said  to  them  on  another  occasion, 
when  a  woman  of  Canaan  beseeched  him  to  heal  her 
daughter,  "I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."^  Was  Zaccheus  one  of  the  lost  sheep 
of  Israel?^  This  idea  seems  to  have  been  known  to 
Caiaphas,  the  high  priest,  as  he  said  to  the  people,  in  an 
astonishing  speech,  that  Jesus  "should  gather  together  in 
one  the  children  of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad."^ 

The  twelve  apostles  were  sent  out  two  by  two ;  and 
Jesus  "gave  them  power  over  unclean  spirits;  And  com- 
manded them  that  they  should  take  nothing  for  their 
journey,  save  a  staflE  only;  no  scrip,  no  bread,  no  money 
in  their  purse.  They  reported  success;  and  were  called 
to  rest. 

Later,  he  sent  out  seventy  disciples,  two  by  two,  under 
similar  instructions;  and  they  duly  reported  success. 

Not  to  expect  either  great  or  immediate  returns  from 
their  service,  Jesus  impressed  upon  his  disciples  the 
method  and  character  of  seed  sowing ;  and  that  that 
which  is  apparently  the  least  of  all  seeds  will  germinate 
and  grow  into  great  things. 

Love  is  the  true  impulse  and  strength  of  service. 
Jesus  said :  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind, 
and  with  all  thy  strength :  this  is  the  first  commandment. 


iMatt.   x:5,   6. 

2  Matt.  xviii:ll;  Luke  xix:10. 

»Matt.  xv:24. 

4  Luke  xix:9,  10. 

"John  xi:52. 


59 

And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  namely,  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  There  is  none  other  command- 
ment greater  than  these." 

The  prime  purpose  of  the  coming  of  Jesus  is  shown 
in  his  statement  made  to  his  disciples :  "In  that  hour 
Jesus  rejoiced  in  spirit,  and  said,  I  thank  thee,  O  Father, 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  thou  hast  hid  these  things 
from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto 
babes :  even  so.  Father ;  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy 
sight.  All  things  are  delivered  to  me  of  my  Father :  and 
no  man  knoweth  who  the  Son  is,  but  the  Father;  and 
who  the  Father  is,  but  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the 
Son  will  reveal  him.  And  he  turned  him  unto  his  dis- 
ciples, and  said  privately.  Blessed  are  the  eyes  which 
see  the  things  that  ye  see:  For  I  tell  you,  that  many 
prophets  and  kings  have  desired  to  see  those  things  which 
ye  see,  and  have  not  seen  them;  and  to  hear  those  things 
which  ye  hear,  and  have  not  heard  them."  "In  him 
was  life;  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men."  "The 
law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by 
Jesus  Christ."  Again  he  said,  "I  am  the  light  of  the 
world;  he  that  foUoweth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness, 
but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  "I  am  come  a  light 
into  the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  me  should 
not  abide  in  darkness." 

Service  is  the  criterion  of  the  standing  of  all  people 
before  God.  "Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the 
same  is  my  brother,  my  sister,  and  mother."  Jesus 
said  to  his  apostles,  "Ye  know  that  the  princes  of  the 
Gentiles  exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they  that  are 
great  exercise  authority  upon  them.  But  it  shall  not  be 
so  among  you:  but  whosoever  will  be  great  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  minister ;  And  whosoever  will  be  chief 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant :  Even  as  the  Son  of 
man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and 
to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  He  "that  is  greatest 
among  you  shall  be  your  servant." 


6o 

The  kinds  of  service  are  mentioned  in  the  statements 
following  the  parable  of  the  talents. 

The  servant  that  is  occupied  when  the  Lord  cometh 
is  the  one  who  receives  the  blessing. 

Jesus  said  to  his  disciples,  "My  meat  is  to  do  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work."  "For  I 
came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will, 
but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me."  The  disciple  is  not 
above  his  Lord,  and  his  life  and  interest  is  to  do  and 
finish  the  same  work. 

*T  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they 
might  have  it  more  abundantly.  I  am  the  good  shepherd : 
the  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  his  sheep.  .  .  I  lay 
down  my  life  for  the  sheep.  And  other  sheep  I  have, 
which  are  not  of  this  fold:  them  also  I  must  bring,  and 
they  shall  hear  my  voice ;  and  there  shall  be  one  fold,  and 
one  shepherd." 

He  said  unto  his  disciples,  "Therefore  I  say  unto  you. 
Take  no  thought  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat ;  neither 
for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  The  life  is  more 
than  meat,  and  body  is  more  than  raiment.  Consider  the 
ravens :  for  they  neither  sow  nor  reap ;  which  neither 
have  storehouse  nor  barn ;  and  God  f eedeth  them :  how 
much  more  are  ye  better  than  the  fowls?  And  which 
of  you  with  taking  thought  can  add  to  his  stature  one 
cubit?  If  ye  then  be  not  able  to  do  that  thing  which  is 
least,  why  take  ye  thought  for  ye  rest?  Consider  the 
lilies  how  they  grow :  they  toil  not,  they  spin  not ;  and 
yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  these.  If  then  God  so  clothe  the 
grass,  which  is  to  day  in  the  field,  and  to  morrow  is  cast 
into  the  oven :  how  much  more  will  he  clothe  you,  O  ye 
of  little  faith?  And  seek  not  ye  what  ye  shall  eat,  or 
what  ye  shall  drink,  neither  be  ye  of  doubtful  mind.  For 
all  these  things  do  the  nations  of  the  world  seek  after: 
and   your   father  knoweth   that  ye   have   need  of   these 


6.       , 

things.  But  rather  seek  ye  the  kingdom  of  God;  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.  Fear  not, 
little  flock:  for  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give 
you  the  kingdom."^ 

He  taught  them  that  suffering  lay  before  them;  but 
that  affliction  was  not  given  as  a  punishment  for  sin  com- 
mitted. It  is  a  most  important  asset  in  the  preparation 
of  the  heart  for  sympathetic  service. 

The  transfiguration  of  Jesus  is  especially  important 
as  it  indicates  the  unity  of  interests  and  of  purpose  of 
Moses,  Elias  and  Jesus,  as  they  talked.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  what  would  be  the  subject  of  their  conversation. 
With  what  intense  interest  they  must  have  discussed 
the  various  stages  and  phases  of  preparation  and  service 
of  each  and  all  from  the  call  of  Abram  to  the  consum- 
mation of  the  plan  of  salvation. 

The  end  of  the  mortal  life  of  Jesus  was  drawing  nigh, 
At  the  time  of  the  passover,  when  the  multitudes  were 
there,  he  made  an  exhibition  of  his  kingly  right  before  the 
Jews  by  a  formal  processional  entry  into  Jerusalem.  He 
entered  into  the  temple,  and  thrust  out  all  that  made  it  a 
place  of  trade. 

The  events  of  this  last  week  of  his  life  came  crowding 
in  their  order.  He  returned  to  Bethany  each  night  and 
came  into  Jerusalem  each  morning  until  Thursday. 

Thursday  dawned.  It  was  the  first  day  of  eating  the 
unleavened  bread  of  the  passover,  and  in  the  evening  Jesus 
and  the  apostles  gathered  about  a  table  in  a  chamber  in 
Jerusalem,  and  ate  their  last  supper  together  in  the  recog- 
nition of  the  passover.  During  the  meal,  Jesus  opened 
his  heart  and  mind  to  his  disciples  as  he  had  never  done 
before ;  bringing  them  to  the  expiatory  idea  of  the  feast. 
He  said :  "The  hour  is  come,  that  the  Son  of  man  should 
be  glorified.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Except  a 
corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth 


^Luke  xii:22-32. 


62 

alone :  but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."     The 
right  kind  of  fruit  is  that  which  springs  from  self-abnega- 
tion only.     At  the  close  of  the  supper,  he  rose   from 
the  table  and  washed  the  feet  of  the  disciples  for  an 
example  for  them  to  follow.     Judas  Iscariot  then  went 
out.     Jesus  then  prayed  to  God  in  the  wonderful  words 
of  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John.     The  subject  is  prep- 
aration for  service;  the  necessity  of  unity  among  them- 
selves being  the   leading  thought.     "I   have  manifested 
thy  name  unto  the  men  which  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the 
world :  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me ;  and     <^ 
they  have  kept  thy  word.  .    .  I  pray  for  them :  I  pray  not    v 
for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me :  for  ^ 
they  are  mine.  .   .  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for       ^ 
them  also  which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word ;  ,;** 
That  they  all  may  be  one ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and 
I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us :  that  the  world 
may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me.     And  the  glory  which 
thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them ;  that  they  may  be  one, 
even  as  we  are  one :  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they 
may  be  made  perfect  in  one;   and  that  the  world  may 
know  that  thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved  them,  as  thou 
hast  loved  me." 

It  was  late  when  the  supper  ended;  but  Judas  knew 
that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  would  pass  over  the  brook 
Cedron  to  a  garden  of  olive  trees,  called  Gethsemane, 
which  was  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  on  the  road  to  Beth- 
any. Judas  went  to  the  Roman  camp,  and  notified  them 
to  be  at  the  garden  a  little  later  to  carry  out  the  plot  of 
taking  Jesus  into  custody.  It  is  said  that  from  the  gar- 
den Jesus  could  look  over  the  stream  and  watch,  by  the 
flickering  but  quickly  moving  lights,  the  preparations 
that  were  being  made  for  his  arrest. 

When  he  and  his  disciples  entered  the  garden,  Jesus 
said  to  eight  of  them,  "Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go  to  pray 
yonder."     He  took  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee 


63 

(James  and  John),  and  went  farther  into  the  garden; 
and  a  little  later  went  away  by  himself  to  fight  his  bat- 
tle alone.  He  knew  that  he  was  to  give  his  life  for 
the  purpose  for  which  he  had  come  into  the  world.  It 
was  hard  for  him  to  give  it  up  and  to  suffer  the  awful 
agonies  of  dissolution  upon  the  cross;  but  others  had 
done  it  without  a  murmur,  even  those  of  a  sensitive 
nature.  What  was  it  that  made  the  struggle  so  intense 
and  awful?  He  knew  that  he  came  as  the  lamb  slain  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world ;  but  he  had  not  the  ignorance 
of  the  lamb.  He  knew  far  more  than  any  other  human 
being  what  his  atonement  for  sin  meant.  He  knew  that 
he  must  not  only  take  the  place  of  the  sinner,  but  of 
sin.  He  must  become  sin  and  all  that  the  transition 
involved.^ 

Alone,  in  the  deep  shadows  of  the  olive  trees,  in  the 
bright  moonlight,  he  fought  the  battle  of  self-abnega- 
tion. In  the  bosom  of  his  Father  from  the  beginning, 
with  the  fullest  knowledge  of  his  perfect  and  exquisite 
love,  God  was  now  to  turn  his  back  upon  him,  to  have 
no  communion  with  him,  to  treat  him  as  he  would  sin. 
As  God  and  sin,  they  could  not  exist  together.  The 
sonship  and  love  between  them  must  end  forever.  It 
will  be  suggested  that  he  knew  that  this  separation  would 
only  be  temporary.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  sacrifice  was  that  of  a  human  and  not  of  a  divine. ^ 
It  is  difficult  and  probably  impossible  for  us  to  realize 
how  he  could  give  himself  as  a  sacrifice  and  not  have 
the  knowledge  of  his  future  glory  lessen  the  force  of  the 
thought  upon  his  mind  and  heart  of  the  everlasting  expul- 
sion from  the  presence  of  God.  We  cannot  appreciate 
or  understand  the  dual  nature  of  Jesus.  The  truth  is, 
however,  that  he  suffered  as  sin,  which  is  eternal  separa- 
tion   from    God.     He   could   not   desert   the   cause    for 


^2  Cor.  v:22;  Gal.   iii:13. 
2  Phil.  ii:8. 


64 

which  he  had  come  and  which  was  nearest  to  his  heart 
and  the  heart  of  God,  and  return  to  his  place  in  heaven. 
He  must  give  to  it  the  full  measure  of  his  devotion.  But 
at  what  a  cost !  As  the  fateful  hour  drew  near,  his 
human  nature  became  more  and  more  affected  by  it.  He 
must  go  on  and  manifest  to  his  followers  and  the  world 
the  measure  of  supreme  love.  How  could  he  be  will- 
ing to  become  sin  and  never  again  see  the  face  and  smile 
of  the  Father,  whose  presence  was  greater  bliss  than 
men  or  angels  ever  knew.  So  severe  did  the  struggle  be- 
come that  great  drops  of  blood  oozed  from  the  pores  of 
his  body,  and  he  fell  upon  his  face  and  prayed,  "O  my 
Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me : 
nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt."  He  re- 
turned to  Peter  and  his  companions,  and,  finding  them 
asleep,  he  went  away  by  himself  again,  and  again 
prayed,  "O  my  Father,  if  this  cup  may  not  pass  away 
from  me,  except  I  drink  it,  thy  will  be  done."  He 
returned  to  them  a  second  time,  and  finding  them 
asleep  went  away  again  and  prayed,  using  the  same 
words.  He  became  calm,  and  was  ready  for  the  sub- 
sequent events.  He  came  to  his  disciples  and  said  to 
them,  ''Rise,  let  us  be  going:  behold  he  is  at  hand  that 
doth  betray  me." 

The  soldiers  approached,  and  with  a  kiss  Judas 
pointed  out  Jesus.  He  was  taken  and  led  away  to  Caia- 
phas,  the  high  priest,  before  whom  the  scribes  and 
elders  were  assembled.  There  was  no  resistance,  except 
from  Peter,  who  drew  his  sword  and  cut  off  an  ear  of 
a  servant  of  the  high  priest.  "Then  said  Jesus  unto 
him.  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his  place :  for  all  they 
that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword. 
Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray  to  my  Father, 
and  he  shall  presently  give  me  more  than  twelve  legions 
of  angels?  But  how  then  shall  the  scriptures  be  ful- 
filled, that  thus  it  must  be?"     They  spat  in  his  face 


65 

and  smote  him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands.  He  was 
calm  through  it  all.  The  night  was  spent  in  accusa- 
tions and  false  witnessing.  They  sought  his  life,  but 
had  not  the  power  to  take  it;  the  Roman  government 
only  could  decree  death.  So,  when  morning  was  come 
they  led  Jesus  away  to  Pontius  Pilate,  the  governor. 
In  his  colloquy  with  Pilate,  the  latter  asked  him,  "Art 
thou  a  king  then?  Jesus  answered,  "Thou  sayest  that  I 
am  a  king.  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause 
came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto 
the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my 
voice."  After  hearing  the  accusations  and  evidence, 
Pilate  declared  that  he  found  no  fault  in  him ;  but  the 
Jews  cried  for  his  death.  Pilate  therefore  released  the 
robber  Barabbas  and  permitted  Jesus  to  be  crucified. 
After  he  was  scourged,  the  soldiers  put  a  scarlet  robe 
upon  him,  a  reed  in  his  hand  and  a  crown  of 
thorns  upon  his  head,  and  spat  upon  and  smote  him. 
He  was  calm.  They  took  off  the  fancy  clothes,  and  in 
his  own  raiment  led  him  to  the  place  of  execution. 
There  they  nailed  him  to  the  cross  and  raised  it;  but 
no  murmur  came  from  him.  They  offered  him  a  stu- 
pifying  drink,  but  he  would  have  none  of  it.  From 
the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour  darkness  was  upon  the  land. 
Then  the  fateful  moment  arrived,  when  God  and  sin 
must  eternally  part ;  and  in  utter  despair  Jesus  twice 
cried,  with  a  loud  voice,  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me !"  He  died  instantly,  and  it  is  said 
that  death  undoubtedly  came  from  a  broken  heart.  "And, 
behold,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom ;  and  the  earth  did  quake,  and 
the  rocks  rent.  .  .  .  Now  when  the  centurion  and  they 
that  were  with  him,  watching  Jesus,  saw  the  earthquake, 
and  those  things  that  were  done,  they  feared  greatly, 
saying,  "Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God !" 

Joseph,  a  rich  man  of  Aramathea,  had  a  new  tomb, 


66 

hewn  out  of  the  rock,  and  he  begged  of  Pilate  the  body 
of  Jesus.  It  was  delivered  to  him,  and  he  laid  it  in 
the  tomb  and  rolled  the  door  into  its  place.  Jesus 
had  said:  "After  three  days  I  will  rise  again;"  and, 
therefore,  at  the  request  of  the  Jews  Pilate  sealed  the 
tomb  and  placed  a  military  guard  before  it,  that  the 
disciples  could  not  come  and  take  his  body  away,  and 
say  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead. 

After  his  resurrection,  ''Jesus  said  to  Simon  Peter, 
Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  more  than  these? 
He  saith  unto  him.  Yea,  Lord;  thou  knowest  that  I 
love  thee.  He  saith  unto  him.  Feed  my  lambs.  He 
saith  to  him  again  the  second  time,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me?  He  saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord;  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee.  He  said  unto  him.  Feed  my 
sheep.  He  saith  unto  him  the  third  time,  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?  Peter  was  grieved  because  he 
said  unto  him  the  third  time,  Lovest  thou  me?  And  he 
said  unto  him.  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things ;  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee.  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Feed 
my  sheep. "^ 

Peter  asked  Jesus  what  John  should  do,  and  Jesus 
replied,  "What  is  that  to  thee,  .   .    .  follow  thou  me."^ 

Jesus  had  been  obedient  unto  the  death  of  the  cross 
for  sin,  and  after  being  on  the  earth  forty  days  after 
his  resurrection,  he  ascended  into  heaven,  from  Mount 
Olivet. 

PENTECOSTAL    DAYS- 

Jesus  had  promised  his  disciples  that  the  Comforter, 
the  Holy  Spirit,  would  be  sent  by  the  Father  in  his 
name,  to  teach  them  all  things  and  bring  to  their 
remembrance  all  things  he  had  said  to  them.  At  the 
time  of  his  ascension,  Jesus  commanded  them  to  remain 
in  Jerusalem  until  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  he  promised 


*  John  xxi:15-17. 
'John  xxi:21,  22. 


67 

to  send  them  the  spirit  that  they  might  be  endued  with 
power  from  on  high.  "Ye  shall  receive  power,  after 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you :  and  ye  shall 
be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all 
Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part 
of  the   earth." 

The  day  of  Pentecost  arrived,  the  spirit  descended, 
and  the  apostles  began  to  speak  in  foreign  languages 
as  well  as  their  own,  so  that  each  of  the  many  nation- 
alities assembled  there  heard  the  gospel  preached  in 
his  own  tongue.  Though  an  ignorant  fisherman,  Peter 
delivered  a  powerful  discourse  and  three  thousand  per- 
sons were  converted.  "And  they  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  break- 
ing of  bread,  and  in  prayers.  And  fear  came  upon 
every  soul :  and  many  wonders  and  signs  were  done  by 
the  apostles.  And  all  that  believed  were  together,  and 
had  all  things  common." 

Peter  healed  a  lame  man,  and  spoke  to  the  people, 
closing  with  reference  to  the  prophets,  "Ye  are  the 
children  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  covenant  which 
God  made  with  our  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham, 
And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth  be 
blessed.  Unto  you  first  God,  having  raised  up  his  Son 
Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning  every  one  of 
you   from  his   iniquities." 

The  chief  priests  and  elders  were  strongly  opposed 
to  any  reference  to  Jesus  or  of  his  or  any  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  and  commanded  the  disciples  to  speak 
in  that  name  no  more.  Peter  and  John  replied,  "We 
cannot  but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and 
heard."  They  reported  to  their  companions  all  that 
the  officials  of  the  Jews  had  said  to  them.  Then  they 
prayed  for  boldness  of  speech,  and  further  power  of 
healing,  etc. ;  and  were  filled  with  the  spirit.  From 
henceforth  greater  power  was  given  to  them. 


68 

Finally,  several  of  the  apostles  were  arrested  and 
put  in  prison;  but  the  same  night  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
opened  the  prison  doors  and  brought  them  forth,  saying, 
"Go,  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple  to  the  people  all 
the  words  of  this  life."  The  next  morning  the  prisoners 
v/ere  sent  for,  the  doors  were  found  safely  shut,  and  the 
keepers  standing  without  before  the  doors,  but  no  person 
was  found  within.  Then  a  messenger  came  and  told 
the  chief  priest  and  associates  that  the  prisoners  were 
standing  in  the  temple  and  teaching  the  people.  The 
apostles  were  again  brought  before  the  high  priest 
and  the  others ;  but  because  of  the  argument  of  Gamaliel, 
thy  were  beaten  and  again  freed,  being  commanded 
to  speak  no  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  They  departed, 
"rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame 
for  his  name.  And  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every 
house,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ." 

The  number  of  disciples  in  Jerusalem  increased 
greatly.  One  of  them  named  Stephen,  a  young  man  full 
of  faith  and  spirit,  did  great  wonders  among  the  people, 
and  he  was  brought  before  the  Jewish  council,  being 
accused  of  blasphemy.  His  face  appeared  as  "the  face 
of  an  angel,"  and  his  long  and  wonderful  address, 
covering  the  history  of  redemption  from  the  call  to 
Abraham  to  that  present  moment,  cut  them  to  the  heart, 
and  they  gnashed  on  him  with  their  teeth.  They  ran 
upon  him,  cast  him  out  of  the  city  and  stoned  him  to 
death. 

A  great  persecution  against  the  disciples  followed, 
and  they  were  scattered  abroa,d,  going  everywhere  and 
preaching  the  word. 

PAUL. 

A  young  man  named  Saul  was  the  apparent  leader 
of  the  persecution.  Once,  as  he  journeyed,  near  Damas- 
cus,  a  light  from  heaven  suddenly  shone  around  him; 


69 

and  he  fell  to  the  earth.  A  voice  said  to  him,  "Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutist  thou  me?"  The  story  of  his  won- 
derful conversion  follows.  The  Jews  then  sought  his 
life.  He  was  afterwards  known  as  Paul,  and  became 
famous  as  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  He  said  to 
the  Jews :  "It  was  necessary  that  the  word  of  God 
should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you."  He  became  sub- 
sequently one  of  those  "that  have  turned  the  world  up- 
side down."  His  final  parting  from  the  church  at 
Ephesus  is  tender  and  noble.  Several  lof  the  later 
chapters  of  Acts  are  devoted  to  an  account  of  the 
work  of  Paul  and  other  apostles,  all  or  nearly  all  of 
whom  suffered  death  for  the  name  of  Jesus. 

Paul  is  the  author  of  many  of  the  Epistles,  as  Romans, 
Corinthians,    Galatians,    Philippians,    Colossians,    Thes- 
salonians,    Timothy,    Titus   and    Philemon.     The    larger 
part  of  these,  especially  the  earlier  ones,  are  made  up 
principally   of   arguments   to   sustain   doctrines   of   their 
belief.     Paul    had    been    brought    up    at    the    feet    of 
Gamaliel,   who   was   learned  in   the   law,   and   this   was 
the  natural  as  well  as   the  acquired  bent  of  his  mind. 
From  that  early  time,   even,  the  church,   or  the  assem- 
blies   of    Christian    disciples,    became    theological    and;  .., 
doctrinal,   rather   than  possessing   the   simplicity  of   the     jS     ' 
teachings    of    Jesus    of    being    good    and    doing    good.*         ^ 
Religious   differences,    in   fine   distinctions   of   doctrines,  Aji  ^ 
have  been  the  curse  of  the  church  ever  since.     Instead 
of  allowing  it  to  be  a  means.   Christians  regard  it  as 
an  end,  and  are  willing  to  give  their  lives  and  fortunes 
for    its    perpetuity.     In    the    end,    they    may    save    the 
church  organization,  but  have  not  advanced  the  cause 
of  Christianity.     It  is  the  last  step  in  the  plan  of  sal- 
vation for  the  world.     Jesus  came  to  finish  the  work. 

In  his  epistle  to  the  Christians  at  Rome,  Paul  takes 
up  the  question,  "Who  are  Israelites;  to  whom  per- 
taineth  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants, 


70 

and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and 
the  promises ;  Whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom 
as  concerning  the  flesh  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all, 
God  blessed  forever.  Amen.  Not  as  though  the  word 
of  God  hath  taken  none  eifect,  for  they  are  not  all 
Israel,  which  are  of  Israel :  Neither,  because  they  are 
the  seed  of  Abraham,  are  they  all  children :  but  in  Isaac 
shall  thy  seed  be  called.  That  is,  they  which  are  the 
children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of 
God :  but  the  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for 
the  seed."^ 

He  argues  for  the  efficacy  of  faith  alone,  but  con- 
cludes:  *'I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies 
of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable 
service."^ 

The  book  of  Revelation  shows  in  prophetic  language 
the  purpose  of  salvation.  Many  writers  and  speakers 
have  explained  the  interpretation  of  these  statements  in 
great  detail ;  saying  that  much  of  their  fulfillment  has 
already  come  to  pass.  Like  prophecies  generally,  the 
best  time  to  interpret  them  is  after  they  have  been  ful- 
filled, because  their  setting  and  the  terms  used  to  describe 
and  define  them  are  of  another  time  and  of  other  condi- 
tions, which  are  not  known  until  the  time  of  such  ful- 
fillment. 


^  Rom.  ix:4-10.     See  Matt.  iii:9;  Rom.  iii:l   2. 
2  Rom.   xii:l. 


POST^BIBLE  DAYS 

The  Bible  stops  here.  Secular  history  must  continue 
the  story  of  the  service  established  through  Abraham. 
Human  imperfections  and  frailty  mark  all  the  way. 
In  spite  of  persecution,  ignorance  and  schism, — in  spite 
of  slavery  and  apparent  racial  extinction,  the  truth  and 
its  effect  upon  humanity  has  been  preserved  in  more 
ways  than  we  are  yet  aware. 

Returning  to  the  history  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
many  scholars  follow  the  ten  lost   tribes  of   Israel  out 
of  Assyria,  identifying  them  in  many  ways  as  the  people 
who    seemed    to    be    distinct    and    separate    from   others 
with   whom   they   came   in   contact.     Crossing   Teutonic 
lands  westerly,  they  were  eventually  found  in  the  islands  ^^^' 
of    the    West    (the    British    islands)    at    the    beginning    "^ 
of  the  Christian  Era.     It  is  interesting  and  astonishing  to 
know  how  many  ideas  and  practices  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
and  their  successors  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Hebrews. 
The  great  English  nation  was  the  outcome  of  this  coloni- 
zation.    It    became    mistress    of    the    sea,    and    in    the 
eleventh    century    the    authority    of    the    monarch    was 
limited,    and    the    people    began    to    govern    themselves. 

Rome  was  the  centre  of  the  early  church ;  and  by  the 
easy  means  of  communication  throughout  the  Roman 
empire  and  the  close  and  constant  relation  the  dispersed 
Jews  maintained  with  Jerusalem  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
was  chiefly  aided.  The  first  preachers  passed  rapidly 
over  the  country  publishing  the  good  tidings.  The 
apostle  Paul  must  be  accorded  the  first  place  in  carrying 
the  message  to  the  countries  about  the  Holy  Land,  in 
Europe  and  in  Asia,  and  he  was  followed  by  Bartholo- 
mew and  Origen.  Churches  were  formed  in  many 
places  during  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  Era;  and 

71 


72 

persecution  of  the  Christians  only  intensified  their  zeal  and 
willingness  to  suffer  for  their  loved  Lord  and  the  cause. 
Corruptions  were  introduced  into  the  church  even  in 
the  first  century.  The  simplicity  of  the  faith  and  prac- 
tices were  departed  from  and  futile  and  useless  cere- 
monies to  affect  the  ignorant  multitude  became  com- 
mon. Indeed  the  church  has  never  been  free  from 
them  since  that  time.  A  mysterious  meaning  was  given 
to  the  simple  passages  of  the  Bible,  and  believers  be- 
came enthralled.  The  clergy  proclaimed  that  they  were 
reverend  and  possessed  of  certain  power  and  authority, 
and  that  they  must  be  accorded  all  they  claimed.  Thus 
the  laymen  were  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  their 
pastors  and  teachers  were  superior  to  them  by  special 
endowment  of  God,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  ordina- 
ation,  etc.  This  investment  included  the  interpretation  ^ 
of  the  Scriptures  and  gospel  writings.  -^-^ 

At  first  individually  independent,   the  churches  of  a  ^ 
certain  section  or  province  became  united  in  an  ecclesias-     ^ 
tical  government.     By  this  system,  the  ancient  privileges  ^p'^ 
of  the  people  were  diminished,  and  the  power  of  those    ^« 
in   authority   greatly   augmented.  -*      S 

Discussions  in  the  synods  of  the  hierarchy  evoked 
the  idea  that  religion  consists  more  in  prayers,  medi- 
tations and  practice  of  certain  declared  rites  than  in 
the  purity  and  correctness  of  actual  life.  Ceremonies 
appeal  to  human  desires  and  are  readily  adopted.  They 
cause  divisions,  and  therefore  sects.  Universality  will 
ensue  when  the  life  of  the  individual  is  the  only  element 
of  Christian  practices.  Among  the  things  which  tend 
away  from  real  experiences  are  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
the  manner  of  baptism,  the  dim  religious  light,  burning 
of  candles,  the  method  of  observance  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  wearing  of  certain  vestments,  the  eucharist, 
penances,  alleged  human  remission  of  sins,  the  mon- 
astery system,  fastings,  efficacy  of  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
worship   of   Mary,   etc. 


73 

In  the  fourth  century  Christianity  was  established 
by  law  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Fearing  the  downfall 
of  pagan  superstitions,  a  bloody  persecution  followed, 
continuing  for  several  years. 

The  completion  of  St.  Peter's  church  at  Rome  re- 
quired such  enormous  sums  of  money  that  Pope  Leo  X 
published  a  general  indulgence  for  forgiveness  of  sins ; 
and  in  Germany  the  people  were  informed  that  they 
might  thus  obtain  releases  for  future  sins  as  well  as  those 
already  committed.  This  caused  Martin  Luther  to  be- 
come more  and  more  impressed  with  the  seriousness  of 
the    circumstances. 

In  the  Roman  church,  the  see  assumed  and  held 
tremendous  preeminence  and  authority  in  civil  and  po- 
litical matters.  Those  whom  pontiff  or  bishop  excluded 
from  the  communion  of  the  church  not  only  forfeited 
their  civil  rights  and  advantages  as  citizens,  but  the  com- 
mon claims  and  privileges  of  humanity,  degrading  them 
to  a  level  with  beasts.  The  powers  of  those  highest  in 
authority  increased  by  the  exercise  of  their  assumed 
power  until,  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  popes  pro- 
claimed themselves  masters  of  the  world  and  affirmed 
that  the  whole  earth  was  their  property.  Ignorance 
and  superstition  correspondingly  increased.  The  clergy 
were  concerned  in  the  greatest  crimes,  and  the  laity,  also, 
believing  that  they  could  purchase  pardon  with  money, 
followed  the  example  of  their  pastors  without  remorse. 
While  this  was  true  of  the  mass,  there  were  numerous 
exceptions.  It  was  a  time  that  proved  men  who  still 
believed  in  Jesus  Christ  and  the  truth  as  it  is  in  him. 

THE    REFORMATION. 

Century  followed  century,  and  martyrs  made  the 
supreme  sacrifice  for  the  simplicity  of  faith  in  the  truth 
of  the  gospel.  The  greatest  of  these,  probably,  was  John 
Huss,  a  professor  of  the  University  of  Prague.     He  had 


74 

read  Wycliffe's  writings  and  as  early  as  1401  proclaimed 
various  truths  against  the  bishops.  He  was  burned  alive 
at  the  stake  in  1415.  The  rulers  of  the  church  believed 
that  his  name  even  passed  into  oblivion  when  his  ashes 
were  thrown  into  the  Rhine,;  but  his  teaching  had  spread 
throughout  Bohemia,  and  the  Bohemian  states  protested 
against  the  monstrous  acts  of  the  council.  The  pope 
excommunicated  the  followers  of  Huss,  and  they  declared 
war  against  the  powers  and  wrongs  and  errors  of  the 
church.  This  conflict  continued  several  years  and  shows 
that  there  were  thousands  in  Europe  whose  faith  in  the 
gospel  had  been  tried  by  fire  and  many  had  given  their 
lives  for  it.  The  boldness  and  steadfastness  of  purpose 
of  the  Hussites  prepared  the  way  for  the  Reformation. 
The  spirit  of  truth  grew  steadily  from  that  time,  and 
was  more  and  more  openly  declared. 

Peter  Walden,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Lyons,  France, 
eager  for  the  advancement  of  real  Christianity  and 
Christian  knowledge,  secured  a  translation  in  French  of 
the  gospels  and  some  other  books  of  the  Bible.  He  dis- 
covered the  glaring  differences  of  these  writings  and  the 
doctrines  of  the  pontiffs.  He,  thereupon,  gave  all  his 
estate  to  the  poor  and,  joining  with  some  other  men  who 
had  adopted  his  devotion  to  the  truth,  began  to  teach  the 
new  views  of  Christianity.  The  clergy  soon  opposed  him, 
but  his  revelations  were  so  satisfying  and  plain  and 
attractive  that  his  followers  were  readily  and  contantly 
increased.  Assemblies  for  religious  worship  were  formed 
in  France  and  Lombardy,  and  the  new  faith  spread 
throughout  Europe,  Neither  fire  nor  sword,  nor  the 
cruel  inventions  of  merciless  persecution  swayed  them 
from  their  fortitude.  They  maintained  that  the  clergy 
should  imitate  the  poverty  of  the  apostles  and  that  every 
Christian  was  qualified  and  authorized  to  instruct  and 
exhort  each  other.  They  believed  that  confession  could 
be  made  to  any  believer,  denied  that  expiation  for  sins 


75 

could  be  secured  by  paying  or  doing  penance,  and  that 
indulgences  were  introduced  and  practised  simply  be- 
cause of  the  avarice  of  the  clergy.  Rigorous  persecutions 
of  the  Waldenses  continued  for  more  than  four  hundred 
years,  until  about  1700,  when,  through  the  inter- 
cession of  the  English  and  Dutch  governments,  the 
scenes  of  violence  and  bloodshed  ceased. 

In  England,  the  first  reformer  was  John  Wycliffe,  of 
the  University  of  Oxford,  who,  in  1365,  took  a  position 
against  the  abuses  of  the  papacy.  His  most  important 
work  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English. 


AMERICA 

Europe  was  in  this  condition  when  there  was  born  in 
Genoa,  Italy,  a  man  of  religious  fervor  of  soul  (shall  we 
say  inspiration?),  who  became  possessed  of  the  idea  that 
the  earth  was  round  and  that  by  sailing  westward  he 
could  reach  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia  and  Europe. 
Being  a  son  of  a  woolcomber,  he  possessed  no  power  by 
which  he  could  persuade  a  government  to  assist  him 
in  getting  a  vessel,  crew  and  equipment.  After  eighteen 
years  spent  in  such  vain  attempts,  Queen  Isabella  of 
Spain  learned  of  him,  and  hearing  the  statements  of  his 
belief  became  interested  in  them.  Her  government,  how- 
ever, would  not  consent  to  support  the  scheme,  and  she 
obtained  the  means  for  procuring  three  small  vessels  and 
manning  and  supplying  them  for  this  purpose  by  dis- 
posing of  her  private  jewels.  Christopher  Columbus 
sailed  from  the  little  port  of  Palos  in  1492.  It  was  only 
through  his  great  faith  that  he  persevered  in  proceeding 
westward  against  threatened  mutiny  and  death,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  the  discovery  of  America,  which  was  as  much 
a  new  world  to  Europeans  as  if  it  had  just  been  created. 
Columbus  never  saw  the  continent,  and  probably  died 
ignorant  that  he  had  discovered  one. 

THE    REFORMATION    IN    ENGLAND. 

The  discovery  of  this  new  western  world  was  followed 
by  the  great  reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which 
was  begun  by  Martin  Luther,  in  Germany,  in  1517. 
The  pope  had  assumed  the  supremacy  in  both  spiritual 
and  temporal  affairs.  Against  the  anathemas  from  the 
heads  of  the  church,  Luther  made  great  advances  in 
France  and  England.  With  Melancthon,  he  had  trans- 
lated part  of  the  New  Testament  in  1522,  and  thereby  the 

76 


11 

people  learned  the  true  laws  of  Christ,  as  opposed  to  the 
practice  of  the  church.  They  openly  renounced  the  papal 
supremacy  and  entered  a  solemn  protest  against  a  decree 
of  the  diet  of  1529.  After  several  years  spent  in  attempts 
by  the  emperors  to  reconcile  the  Protestants  to  the  doc- 
trines and  practices  of  the  Roman  church,  in  1555,  the 
diet  of  Augsburg  decreed  that  Protestants  in  Germany 
should  be  entirely  free  from  the  Roman  pontiff  and 
bishops,  and  allowed  to  decide  for  themselves  in  religious 
matters,  joining  the  church  they  might  choose.  In 
France  the  Reformation  gained  headway  in  spite  of  burn- 
ings at  the  stake.  The  Protestants  there  were  called 
Huguenots  by  their  enemies  and  they  suffered  more  than 
those  in  any  other  country. 

The  Protestant  cause  made  great  progess  in  England ; 
and  especially  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI  by  the 
zeal  of  Archbishop  Cranmer.  King  Edward's  sister, 
"Bloody  Mary,"  succeeded  him  on  the  throne  in  1553; 
and  she  bent  all  her  energies  to  restore  Catholicism.  She 
hesitated  at  no  measures  to  effect  it.  She  consigned 
Cranmer,  Latimer,  Rogers  and  others  to  the  flames ; 
and  in  consequence  of  her  cruelties  a  powerful  prejudice 
arose  against  the  Catholics.  Their  cause  sank  and  that 
of  the  Protestants  rose,  causing  a  great  extension  of  the 
Reformation.  The  martyrs  were  indeed  the  seed  of  the 
church. 

Queen  Mary  died  in  1558,  and  she  was  succeeded  by 
her  sister  Elizabeth  ("Good  Queen  Bess"),  who  became 
the  most  respected  and  powerful  sovereign  in  Europe. 
She  fostered  the  Protestant  religion,  and  delivered  the 
people  from  the  bondage  of  Rome  and  established  the 
Church  of  England  in  its  present  form.  She  was 
desirous,  however,  of  preserving  in  the  Protestant 
service  the  ornaments  and  habits  worn  by  the  clergy  in 
Queen  Mary's  reign,  when  the  Romish  religion  and  rites 
were  triumphant.     This  caused  great  discontent  among 


78 

a  large  number  of  her  subjects;  and  multitudes  refused 
to  attend  services  where  they  were  used.  Separate 
congregations  were  established  and  prohibited.  They 
then  assembled  in  private  houses  for  worship,  and  the 
suppression  of  such  services  was  also  attempted.  Impris- 
onment was  suffered  by  those  who  would  worship  God 
as  their  consciences  dictated. 

Puritanism  became  so  strong  in  England  that  a 
simpler  form  of  worship  was  generally  desired,  but 
Archbishop  Laud  repeatedly  added  to  the  liturgy  of  the 
church  and  introduced  new  ceremonies,  to  which  multi- 
tudes refused  to  conform. 

AMERICAN    COLONIZATION. 

America  had  been  discovered  and  adventurers  had 
learned  a  little  about  it,  but  no  attempt  at  colonization 
had  been  made  until  1562,  when  a  settlement  by  the 
French  was  attempted  at  Port  Royal  on  the  coast  of 
Florida.  The  next,  in  1564,  was  near  St.  John's  river, 
and  the  third  at  St.  Augustine  the  following  year.  None 
of  these  colonists  found  the  gold  they  sought,  and  almost 
immediately  perished  by  hunger  or  the  Spanish  sword. 
In  1585,  the  first  English  colony  was  attempted  at 
Roanoke,  on  the  Carolina  coast.  These  colonists,  also, 
spent  their  time  in  hunting  for  gold;  and  no  one  knows 
what  finally  became  of  them. 

In  1605,  some  Englishmen  made  a  settlement  at  what 
is  now  Woolwich,  on  the  coast  of  Maine,  but  they  decided 
that  the  cold  was  too  great  to  permit  Englishmen  to  live 
so  far  north,  and  abandoned  the  project.  The  first  per- 
manent settlement  was  made  by  Englishmen  at  James- 
town on  the  coast  of  Virginia,  in  1607.  At  first  the 
colonists  spent  their  time  in  searching  for  gold,  but  they 
finally  became  tobacco  producers  for  the  European  mar- 
kets. There  were  so  many  gentlemen  among  them  that 
slave  labor  was  established.  Next  came  the  Pilgrims, 
who  had  fled  from  England  to  Holland,  where  they  were 


79 

permitted  to  enjoy  their  religion.  But,  when  the  Dutch 
entered  upon  a  war  and  all  inhabitants,  whether  citizens 
or  aliens,  were  to  be  drafted  into  military  service,  they 
sought  another  hospitable  land.  Friends  in  England  in- 
terested some  merchants  of  the  congregation  of  Rev. 
John  White,  in  Dorchester,  and  two  or  three  merchants 
agreed  to  fit  out  two  vessels  immediately  with  crews 
and  all  needful  supplies,  providing  that  the  Pilgrims 
w^ould  return  the  vessels  in  the  spring  with  a  cargo  of 
such  articles  as  could  be  procured,  as  fish,  furs,  etc. 
While  the  drums  beat  in  the  streets  of  Leyden,  calling 
the  men  to  arms,  the  Pilgrims  speedily  left  Holland  and 
went  to  England,  where  they  embarked  for  America. 
They  settled  in  Massachusetts  Bay  at  a  place  they 
named  Plymouth.  There  they  enjoyed  their  religion. 
The  Mayflower  society  embraces  most  of  their  posterity. 

SALEM. 

English  merchants  were  interested  in  the  cod  fish- 
eries along  the  New  England  coast  at  that  period  and 
recognized  the  fact  that  it  would  be  more  advantageous 
and  profitable  if  the  fishermen  did  not  have  to  be  trans- 
ported to  and  from  England  with  the  fish,  and  the  vessel 
not  to  have  to  remain  in  American  waters  while  the 
cargo  was  being  secured.  Also  that  it  would  be  better 
in  every  way  to  have  the  fishermen  remain  in  New 
England  and  fish  while  the  vessels  were  sailing  back 
and  forth,  across  the  ocean.  So  a  fishing  stage  was 
established  at  Cape  Ann  in  1623-4.  Two  years  trial 
caused  the  scheme  to  be  pronounced  a  failure.  At 
the  time  it  was  discontinued,  Roger  Conant  was  the 
overseer  and  Rev.  John  Lyford  the  religious  teacher. 
There  was  a  considerable  number  of  fishermen  and 
landsmen.  The  merchants  offered  the  men  and  their 
families  free  passage  to  England  or  Virginia,  and  most 
of  them  embraced  the  privilege.     Rev.  Mr.  Lyford  urged 


8o 

Conant  and  others  to  go  to  Virginia  with  him,  but  they 
refused. 

Rev.  John  White,  of  the  church  in  Dorchester,  upon 
being  informed  of  the  determination  of  Conant  and  a 
number  of  his  companions  to  remain  in  New  England 
promised  to  send  over  a  colony  to  join  them.  The  men 
were  unanimous  in  their  determination  to  become  the 
nucleus  of  a  permanent  settlement  that  the  Chris- 
tians in  England  might  have  a  new  home  and  new  free- 
dom and  the  oppressed  an  asylum.  These  men  were 
the  wheat  which  remained  after  the  sifting  of  the  fish- 
ing plantation.  Those  having  a  narrow  visioti  and' 
desirous  of  an  easier  time,  took  advantage  of  the  offer 
and  are  forgotten.  Those  that  remained  for  a  noble 
purpose  have  their  names  enrolled  on  the  foundation 
stones  of  the  Republic,  of  which  they  were  the  meagre 
beginning.  They  appear  to  have  had  a  vision  of  the 
future,  and  certainly  there  was  ever  manifest  the  desire 
and  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  community  which 
would  be  a  blessing  to  others.  Their  spokesman,  Roger 
Conant,  declared  that  it  was  for  posterity,  for  those 
that  would  come  after,  and  for  the  future.  He  builded 
better  than  he  even  dreamed, — not  for  profit  nor  per- 
sonal advancement.  The  whole  of  his  long  life  shows 
his  superior  Christian  life.  Thoughtful,  peaceful,  pa- 
tient, broad,  far-seeing  and  unselfish,  he  ever  sought 
the  advancement  and  good  of  the  people  who  were  with 
him  and  those  who  came  to  join  them  in  the  great  work 
which  was  always  in  their  thought  and  has  ever  since 
been  the  controlling  inspiration  of  their  successors.  The 
associates  of  Conant  were  of  a  similar  mould. 

The  fishing  station  at  Cape  Ann  was  exposed  to  the 
easterly  storms  and  the  buccaneers  of  the  ocean,  and  the 
soil  was  unsuitable  for  cultivation.  They  therefore  re- 
moved into  the  Bay,  and  at  Naumkeag,  now  Salem,  con- 
structed their  several  small  houses. 


8i 

Their  faith  was  tried  by  two  years  of  waiting,  but 
they  remained  steadfast.  At  last,  in  1628,  the  ships  with 
the  colonists  arrived,  but  Roger  Conant  was  supplanted 
by  John  Endecott  as  the  head  of  the  company.  Conant 
apparently  did  not  complain  and  ever  manifested  a 
beautiful  spirit  in  doing  all  he  could  to  advance  the 
settlement.  Endecott  was  a  man  of  great  executive 
ability,  as  well  as  of  Christian  spirit. 

A  year  later,  the  charter  came.  This  was  granted 
by  King  Charles  I,  and  upon  the  receipt  of  a  large 
sum  of  money,  which  he  needed  at  that  time,  he 
yielded  to  the  patentees  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony  the  right  of  political  government.  Endecott 
was  the  first  governor.  A  year  later,  John  Winthrop 
came  as  a  new  governor,  and  the  steady  influx  of  col- 
onists expanded  the  settlement,  Boston  and  other  places 
being  built  and  occupied. 

To  the  year  1616,  Massachusetts  Bay  was  thickly 
populated  with  the  aboriginees.  In  that  year  began 
a  series  of  epidemics,  which,  before  1619,  had  taken 
away  nine-tenths  of  the  natives.  When  Conant  came  to 
Naumkeag,  for  fifty  miles  north  and  south  along  the 
coast  and  for  a  score  of  miles  inland  there  were  only  a 
few  and  scattering  red  men  left.  These  welcomed  the 
white  settlers,  whom  they  sought  for  protection  in  their 
weakened  state.  English  and  Indians  planted  fields 
side  by  side,  and  the  latter  instructed  the  English  in 
the  fertilization  and  cultivation  of  the  important  maize. 
This  condition  was  providential  in  offering  the  oppor- 
tunity to  found  a  colony,  and  to  reach  the  natives  in  a 
friendly  and  useful  as  well  as  Christian  way.  History 
shows  the  weakness  of  humanity  in  the  dealings  with 
the  red  man  as  the  domain  and  power  of  the  white  man 
increased. 

Salem  was  so  named  because  it  meant  peace — the  con- 
dition that   the  world  has   always   desired,   but   sought 


82 

in  erroneous  ways  and  methods.  "The  New  English 
Canaan,"  the  title  of  Thomas  Morton's  book,  published 
in  1637,  shows  what  was  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
as  to  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  new  settlement.  The 
Puritans  were  people  of  education,  property  and  ability 
and  of  the  best  families  in  England. 

The  Pilgrims  left  England  with  bitter  thoughts  of  the 
established  church,  but  the  Puritans,  who  had  not 
wholly  separated  from  it,  left  with  regret,  loving  it 
and  the  Christians  who  constituted  it,  but  unable 
to  conscientously  practise  some  of  its  requirements. 
These  Nonconformists  left  England  as  nonconforming 
Episcopalians,  but  landed  in  America  as  thorough  Con- 
gregationalists.  Somewhere  on  the  ocean  the  transition 
had  involuntarily  taken  place.  The  cause  was  the 
necessity  for  simplicity  of  worship  and  the  equality  of 
the  emigrants.  Complete  democracy  in  every  relation 
arose  from  the  exigency  of  circumstances.  The  Congre- 
gational form  of  church  government  and  worship  has 
never  been  departed  from  by  the  people  of  this  country, 
though  other  forms,  through  freedom  of  worship  granted 
to  all,  exist  in  all  sections. 

The  town  meeting,  where  every  man  took  part  in 
the  conduct  of  material  affairs  of  government  was 
immediately  established,  not  because  a  set  form  of 
government  had  been  adopted  in  its  inception,  but 
because  it  was  the  natural  and  necessary  outcome  of  con- 
ditions. All  were  equal  and  of  the  same  power  and 
authority  in  all  things  until  a  majority  ordered  other- 
wise. The  town  meeting  has  never  been  abandoned 
in  New  England  nor  in  the  other  states. 

The  schoolhouse  has  accompanied  the  Congregational 
church  and  town  meeting  from  the  beginning.  To  be 
intelligent  and  able  citizens,  each  must  be  educated, 
and  this  is  so  vital  to  democracy  that  the  common 
school  is  a  necessity  and  therefore  came  into  existence 


«3 

in  the  beginning.  The  first  college  (Harvard)  was 
estblished  in  1636.  A  large  tract  of  land  was  given 
for  its  site  in  Marblehead,  but  Cambridge  was  deemed 
more  central  and  there  it  was  located.  This  institu- 
tion has  always  been  a  most  potent  factor  in  the  pro- 
gress and  development  of  the  Puritan  colonies.  The 
institution  of  a  college  so  early  indicates  that  the  col- 
onists were  building  for  futurity. 

In  the  very  infancy  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony 
at  Salem  was  begun  the  wonderful  series  of  records 
which  manifests  the  purpose  of  the  settlers.  They  were 
not  ephemeral  memoranda,  but  fashioned  and  ordered 
as  the  beginning  of  a  long  and  continuing  system. 
Nothing  like  it  was  ever  known  anywhere  in  the  world 
before  nor  since  that  time.  The  doings  of  the  church 
and  state  were  recorded  in  great  detail.  The  birth, 
marriage  and  death  of  every  person  was  written 
in  books  prepared  and  kept  for  that  purpose  by  proper 
officials  and  no  distinction  was  made  because  of  educa- 
tion, property,  race  or  condition.  The  actions  taken  in 
town  meetings  were  recorded  in  the  same  detail,  some- 
times even  to  announced  "dissents"  of  individual  voters 
on  the  passage  of  particular  orders ;  and  in  the  courts, 
the  evidence  was  reduced  to  writing.  Pure  democracy 
never  before  existed.  The  country's  history  has  been 
frequently  written  and  so  has  that  of  each  state.  Nearly 
every  town  has  its  published  history  in  utmost  detail, 
containing  the  private  lives  of  the  citizens  as  well  as 
public  affairs,  and  most  families  have  their  complete  and 
voluminous  genealogical  and  biographical  histories.  To 
preserve  these  records  large  amounts  of  money  are 
spent  every  year  throughout  the  nation  in  copying  and 
printing  them. 

The  settlement  of  Salem  and  of  the  other  places  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  have  expanded  and  are  still 
developing  in   every  section   of   the   land.     To   Salem, 


84 

millions  of  people  in  the  nation  trace  their  families, 
and  go  to  it  in  ever-increasing  numbers  to  get  acquainted 
with  ancestral  homes  and  localities  and  early  incidents 
of  history. 

DEMOCRACY  OF  AMERICA. 

The  Puritan  colony  originated  as  a  collection  of  in- 
dividuals, never  having  a  power  other  or  higher  than 
the  expression  of  themselves  collectively.  They  made 
their  own  laws,  which  were  based  on  their  necessity. 

They  lived  together  in  the  simpliest  form  of  a 
neighborly  agreement.  When  any  question  of  expediency 
or  principle  arose,  they  consulted  and  agreed  upon  what 
action  should  guide  them  then  and  in  the  future.  This 
simple  means  of  settling  questions  resulted  in  the  formal 
town  meeting.  Thus,  from  the  very  beginning,  by  the 
old  planters  living  together  in  Salem  this  pure  demo- 
cracy was  practised.  When  the  General  Court  was 
formed,  all  the  freemen  of  the  settlements  met  together 
in  the  same  way  as  the  town  meeting  was  held  in  the 
individual  towns  until  the  number  became  very  large, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  town  meetings  should  con- 
tinue and  retain  all  their  initiative  and  authority  for 
their  own  government,  and  their  representatives  chosen 
by  themselves  should  meet  together  in  the  General  Court. 
This   rule  has  never  been   changed. 

For  the  first  time  in  history  man's  individuality  was 
normally  established. 

The  interdependence  of  the  first  settlers  cemented 
them  together  in  sympathy  and  mutual  helpfulness,  and 
their  identical  convictions,  aims  and  purposes  solidified 
their  society.  Service  became  their  habit  and  very 
existence. 

Democracy  which  thus  germinated  in  secluded  and 
quiet  domesticity  acquired  a  new  clearness,  simplicity 
and  vastness. 


85 

Radical  recognition  of  equality  of  rights  inspire 
individuals  with  self-consciousness  and  respect  and 
opens  before  them  a  bright  horizon  of  nobler  purposes 
and  aims  which  is  at  once  development  and  consum- 
mation. All  these  things  produce  the  deepest  enthusiasm 
for  all  that  is  grand,  generous  and  noble.  Being  a  col- 
lection of  such  individual  convictions  the  same  public 
manifestation  follows. 

Out  of  the  fathomless  depths  of  human  nature,  these 
agencies  evoked  new  life  and  activity  and  new  charac- 
teristics. Being  in  the  possession  of  the  highest  good, 
no  sacrifice  could  be  too  great  for  its  defence  and  pres- 
ervation; and  so  here  freedom  has  reached  its  highest 
expression. 

It  was  not  the  aspiration  of  a  race.  All  races  became 
fused  by  freedom  and  the  equal  social  organization.  By 
religious  and  political  liberty  and  equal  rights,  by  com- 
bined action  of  climate,  new  necessities,  new  hardships, 
new  and  more  intense  intellectual  activity,  the  Puritans 
became  unlike  any  race.  The  Yankee  result  is  of  a 
peculiar  type.  He  impresses  his  ideas  voluntarily  and 
involuntarily,  and  freedom  necessarily  follows  him. 

Salem,  and  no  less  the  people  of  the  settlements  into 
which  it  expanded,  have  been  the  leaders  in  freedom. 
From  the  time  of  Roger  Williams  to  1686,  when  King 
James  II  undertook  to  withdraw  the  original  charters 
of  the  New  England  colonies,  in  public  and  in  private, 
the  citizens  constantly  declared  their  right  to  govern  them- 
selves, and  eventually  sent  the  royal  governor  to  his  home 
across  the  waters.  The  new  government  in  England 
which  followed  the  abdication  of  James  II,  included 
Plymouth  colony  in  the  new  Province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  The  governor  was  appointed  by  the  crown.  The 
people  were  not  pleased  with  this  change,  which  the 
English  government  had  no  right  to  make,  and  chafed 
under  royal  governors.     Through  the  French  wars,  the 


86 

American  troops  principally  fought  the  battles  for  the 
English  and  paid  for  the  expenses  of  them  by  heavy  taxes, 
which  the  colonists  opposed  as  far  as  possible.  They  felt 
that  they  were  paying  too  dearly  in  lives  and  money  for 
something  in  which  they  had  no  interest ;  and  when  Eng- 
land did  all  she  could  to  stop  manufactures  in  America 
and  ordered  the  raw  material  to  be  exported  to  that  coun- 
try that  it  might  be  manufactured  there  with  great  profit, 
this  unfair  dealing  with  them  by  the  mother  country  was 
openly  opposed  publicly  and  privately.  Finally,  in  1761, 
parliament  provided  for  writs  of  assistance,  which  was  in 
violation  of  the  dearest  principles  of  the  Magna  Charta. 
The  first  application  for  suCli  a  writ  was  made  to  the 
superior  court  then  sitting  in  Salem,  by  deputy-collector 
Cockle  of  the  Salem  port.  James  Otis,  then  advocate- 
general  of  the  province,  was  requested  by  the  royal  au- 
thorities in  Boston  to  appear  for  the  writs.  He  refused, 
and  resigned  his  office.  The  merchants  of  Salem  and 
Boston,  thereupon  engaged  him  to  make  their  defence. 
The  trial  occurred  in  Boston ;  and,  without  fear  or  fee,  he 
addressed  the  court  for  four  or  five  hours  declaring  the 
position  and  rights  of  the  province. 

Otis  rose,  and  great  in  patriot  fame, 
To  listening  crowds  resislance  dared  proclaim. 
From  soul  to  soul  the  bright  idea  ran, 
The  fire  of  freedom  flew  from  man  to  man  : 
His  pen,  like  Sydney's,  made  the  doctrine  known, 
His  tongue,  like  Tully's,  shook  a  tyrant's  throne  ; 
Then  men  grew  bold — and  in  the  public  eye, 
The  right  divine  of  monarchs  dared  to  try; 
Light  shone  on  all,  despotic  darkness  fled — 
And  for  a  sentiment  a  nation  bled.* 

John  Adams  was  present  at  the  trial,  and  he  wrote: 
"Then  and  there  was  the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of 


1  Hon.  Thomas  Dawes,  in  1783. 


87 

opposition    to    the    arbitrary    claims    of    Great    Britain. 
Then  and  there  the  child  Independence  was  bom." 

Practically  every  town  in  the  Province  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  passed  votes,  objecting  to  the  tyranny  of  Great 
Britain  and  declaring  that  the  people  would  not  comply 
with  them,  for  years  before  the  storm  of  open  rebellion 
broke  into  actual  war.  In  these  votes  or  resolutions  it 
was  stated  that  for  the  sake  of  the  future  these  over-bear- 
ing acts  could  not  be  submitted  to,  but  would  be  opposed 
by  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  colonists. 

Parliament  continued  to  pass  obnoxious  laws,  as  the 
stamp  tax  of  1765  and  the  subsequent  acts  levying  duties 
on  imports.  Finding  it  difficult  to  collect  the  customs, 
troops  were  sent  to  Boston  to  enforce  their  collection. 

In  the  spring  of  1774,  the  port  of  Boston  was  closed, 
and  the  customs  officers  were  removed  to  Salem  and  Mar- 
blehead.  Four  regiments  of  British  troops  were  quar- 
tered in  Boston ;  and  the  royal  governor  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in,  and  the  administration  offices  were  removed  to, 
Danvers,  formerly  a  part  of  Salem.  A  part  of  the 
troops  were  quartered  near  the  house  of  the  governor. 
The  General  Court  convened  at  Salem  June  7th.  Massa- 
chusetts being  the  principal  maritime  provmce,  took  the 
lead  in  all  opposition  to  English  commercial  despotism, 
and  had  requested  the  other  colonies  to  send  delegates 
to  a  general  congress  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  the  next 
September,  to  consult  upon  the  restoration  of  harmony 
between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain.  At  this  meeting 
of  the  General  Court  in  Salem,  delegates  were  appointed 
to  attend  the  congress.  The  governor  was  thoroughly 
aroused  and  prepared  to  arrest  a  number  of  Salem  men 
and  send  them  to  England  for  trial  for  various  violations 
of  the  laws  of  parliament.  More  important  infractions 
diverted  his  attention.  He  ordered  the  general  court  to 
convene  in  Salem  October  5,  but  withdrew  the  command. 
Maine  was  then  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and,  in  spite 


88 

of  the  withdrawal  order  of  convention,  the  members  came 
to  Salem,  and,  according  to  the  vote  of  their  constituent 
towns,  resolved  themselves  into  a  provincial  congress, 
electing  John  Hancock  of  Boston,  chairman,  and  Ben- 
jamin Lincoln  of  Hingham,  secretary.  Resolutions  were 
passed  which  practically  renounced  the  authority  of  par- 
liament. 

The  first  repulse  of  the  British  troops  occurred  at 
Salem  February  26,  1775  ;  the  next  at  Lexington  and  Con- 
cord April  19th;  and  the  third  at  Charlestown  June  17th. 

The  war  was  now  on.  John  Hancock  became  presi- 
dent of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  his  name  was 
written  first  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Great  Britain  was  the  greatest  maritime  nation  in  the 
world,  and  its  fleet  of  frigates  was  large  and  formidable. 
The  American  colonies  had  no  armed  vessel,  and  its 
soldiers  were  almost  entirely  the  awkward  farmers  and 
backwoodsmen,  but  the  latter  valiantly  withstood  the 
British  regulars  and  gave  them  ball  for  ball.  As  to  a 
navy,  the  merchants  of  Salem  and  Newburyport  princi- 
pally armed  and  manned  the  vessels  they  had  and  as 
privateers  sent  them  out  to  harrass  the  English  commerce. 
They  built  larger  vessels  and  made  them  serviceable  as 
far  as  possible  as  war  vessels.  Salem  had  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  of  these  vessels  on  the  ocean  so  equipped; 
and  they  took  four  hundred  and  fifty  prizes  from  the 
enemy.  Some  of  the  wealthy  merchants  consumed  their 
entire  property  in  this  way.  Each  patriot  made  the  cause 
his  own.  Every  one  was  on  the  initiative  and  practically 
a  volunteer. 

The  participation  of  Salem  and  associated  towns  is  most 
prominent  in  the  story  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
Washington  leaned  greatly  upon  the  people  of  this  sec- 
tion and  gave  many  tributes  of  praise  to  them.  One  of 
the  major  generals  was  born  here,  and  another  was  the 
commissionary-general  of  the  Northern  army.     A  large 


89 

volume  could  not  contain  the  history  of  support  in  lives 
and  fortunes  given  here  to  the  cause  of  independence. 
Benjamin  Lincoln  became  a  major  general,  and  it  was  he 
who  was  selected  by  Washington  to  have  the  honor  of 
receiving  the  sword  of  Comwallis  upon  his  surrender  at 
Yorktown,  in  1781,  thus  ending  the  long  conflict  and 
bringing  into  national  life  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  snow-white  sails  of  the  merchant  ships  of  Salem 
were  soon  seen  in  every  water  of  the  known  world,  and 
became  famous  in  the  uttermost  parts.  Arabia,  India, 
China,  Japan,  The  Philippine  Islands,  Sumatra,  Batavia, 
Feejee  Islands,  Australia,  Madagascar  and  Africa  thus 
became  introduced  to  commerce  and  Western  civilization. 

The  influence  of  the  new  nation  immediately  became 
manifest  on  every  hand,  and  its  ideas  and  institutions 
long  ago  permeated  all  the  nations.  None  have  contrib- 
uted so  much  directly  for  the  advancement  of  the 
material  welfare  of  the  human  race,  and  its  missionaries 
in  all  parts  of  the  globe  are  beyond  comparison  with  any 
other  country.  The  establishment  and  endowment  of 
hospitals  and  colleges  in  all  lands  is  notable.  The  Eng- 
lish language  and  dress  and  customs  throughout  the  world 
are  more  common  than  any  other. 

What  is  the  destiny  of  this  country  of  upward  a  hun- 
dred million  people?  Is  it  indeed  the  company  of 
peoples  that  were  promised  to  the  patriarchs,  and  is  this 
the  fulness  of  time,  as  some  say,  when  there  would  come 
out  of  the  east  and  north,  from  every  nation,  the  people 
who  should  inhabit  the  promised  land  and  live  not  to 
themselves,  but  be  the  means  of  salvation  to  a  long  suffer- 
ing world? 

No  other  nation  has  had  such  a  beginning,  no  other 
had  a  definite  purpose  in  its  inception  to  exist  for  others 
and  not  for  itself  alone.  No  other  nation  in  its  begin- 
ning, nor  at  any  time,  has  had  the  pure  democracy  of 
America. 


90 

The  prevalence  of  the  desire  for  freedom  and  demo- 
cracy in  America  has  always  existed,  and  its  late  mani- 
festation in  the  World  War  is  typical  of  it.     Not  con- 
quest,  nor   revenge,   nor   selfish   aggrandisement   of   any 
sort  or  degree  actuated  the  people  to  give  money,  sons  and 
husbands  and  brothers,  to  eat  undesirable  food,  to  put  up 
with    inconveniences    and    losses.     The    inducement    on 
every  hand  was  to  save  civilization,  to  promote  democ- 
racy, and  to  save  those  countries  which  had  been  most 
shamelessly   entered,    pillaged   and   almost   ruined  by   a 
nation  whose  whole  interest  was  destruction  of  everything 
worth  while.     To  this  call  the  people  rallied  as  never 
before  in  the  history  of  any  nation.     Every  able-bodied 
man  was  called  into  service,  and  millions  of  young  men 
were  sent,  in  wonderful  brevity  of  time,  three  thousand 
miles.     Hundreds    of    thousands    of    these    made    the 
supreme  sacrifice,  turned  back  the  German  hordes,  and 
ended   the  catastrophe.     America  opened   its  purse   and 
loaned    to    the    allied    nations    of    Europe    the    billions 
of  dollars  necessary  to  continue  the  awful  struggle.     In 
return,  America  asks  no  benefits,  no  part  in  the  territory 
which  Germany  and  Austria  has  had  to  relinquish,  being 
satisfied  with  ending  the  terrible  conflict  in  that  distant 
land.     More  than  that,  as  the  war  left  millions  of  families 
in  Europe  destitute,  and  their  children  in  imminent  dan- 
ger of  starvation,  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  America  to 
save  them  brought  sufficient  money  to  feed  and  clothe 
them  until  a  new  harvest,  and  these  children  were  of  the 
enemy   countries   as  well   as   of   the   allies.     The  world 
never  before  witnessed  such  nation-wide  generosity  and 
magnanimity. 

President  Wilson  sought  to  induce  America  to  enter 
the  league  of  nations,  but  the  people  refused  to  do  so. 
The  prophecy  is  that  the  promised  nation  would  dwell 
alone,  and  surely  America  occupies  that  position,  follow- 


91 

ing  the  declaration  and  advice  of  Washington  to  avoid 
European  entanglements. 

Again,  America  has  always  won  in  war.  The  promise 
made  to  the  nation  of  prophecy  is  that  no  weapon  that 
is  formed  against  it  shall  prosper. 

Again,  the  promised  nation  shall  possess  the  gates  of 
its  enemies.  The  United  States  now  controls  the  Panama 
Canal,  the  Philippine  Islands,  Hawaian  Islands,  Guam, 
and  Yap. 

The  greatest  error  that  was  committed  by  the  English 
settlers  of  New  England  was  the  driving  of  the  Indians 
from  their  homes  and  fertile  lands  and  taking  possession 
of  them  for  themselves.  But  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
people  that  such  a  thing  was  never  repeated.  The  nation 
has  always  paid  for  the  lands  that  have  been  added  to 
its  domain, — ^as  Louisiana,  the  Northwest  Territory, 
Alaska,  Hawaii,  Texas,  and  Dutch  Guiana.  When,  by 
the  fortunes  of  war,  territory  has  been  secured,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  America  has  paid  for  it 
in  cash. 

The  intolerance  of  the  Puritans  in  religion  was  mani- 
fested in  the  two  extremes, — the  Episcopalians  and  the 
Quakers, — one  the  extreme  of  ceremony  and  ritual,  and 
the  other  of  simplicity.  The  second,  however,  had 
seemed  the  greater  heresy,  strange  as  it  may  be,  and 
intolerance  was  overcome  only  after  a  number  of  excel- 
lent Christian  lives  had  been  sacrificed. 

Superstition  was  firmly  entrenched  in  the  belief  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  awfulness  of  Salem  witchcraft  nine- 
teen lives  purchased  freedom  from  the  power  of  demon- 
ology.  The  old-time  errors  had  to  be  overthrown,  and 
the  battle  ground  was  in  Salem,  where  the  people  awoke 
to  sanity. 

The  country  has  done  much  to  purify  and  redeem  it- 
self. Slavery  was  practically  abolished  in  the  North 
before  the   Revolution;   but  in  the  South  it  continued 


9J 

until,  at  great  cost  of  money  and  blood,  the  proclama- 
tion of  Lincoln  emancipated  the  colored  race  January  1, 
1863. 

Salem  and  its  near  towns  had  a  greater  share  in  the 
rise  of  abolition  than  is  ordinarily  known.  In  this  neigh- 
borhood was  born  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  John  G. 
Whittier,  and  Charles  Torrey  was  of  Salem,  and  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  lived  in  Andover. 

Prohibition  came  next  being  made  a  provision  of  the 
constitution  of  the  country;  and  women  received  their 
political  emancipation,  also,  by  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment. 

DESTINY   OF    AMERICA. 

A  company  of  immigrants  from  its  inception,  the  por- 
tals of  the  government  have  always  swung  wide  open  to 
the  oppressed  of  the  world,  and  millions  from  out  of  every 
land  of  every  tongue  and  race  have  come  to  receive  of 
its  beneiicence.  America  is  indeed  a  non-racial  nation. 
The  work  of  Americans  is  to  assimilate  these  strangers, — 
Americanize  them, — that  they  may  understand  and  appre- 
ciate our  government  and  institutions  and  ideas,  and  be 
desirous  of  being  an  integral  part  of  the  nation.  America 
is  not  only  a  melting  pot,  but  a  smelting  pot,  where  the 
dross  of  former  times  and  conditions  shall  be  eliminated. 

There  are  mobs  and  violence,  strikes  and  murders,  and 
bribery  and  corruption.  Investigations  are  made,  and 
courts  and  legislatures  are  correcting  these  errors.  In 
other  countries  similiar  occurrences  exist,  but  the  know- 
ledge of  them  is  kept  from  the  people.  In  the  process  of 
purification  only,  the  scum  rises  on  the  living  boiling 
water.  Dead  waters  remain  quiet  and  evils  sink  out  of 
sight,  because  there  is  no  life  or  activity  to  stir  them  to 
the  surface. 

Learning  here  the  principles  of  true  liberty  and  right- 
eousness  and   magnanimity,   many   of   the   foreign   born 


93 

have  spread  the  news  to  their  kindred  and  friends  across 
the  sea  in  their  various  fatherlands,  and  others  have 
returned  to  the  homelands  and  carried  the  message  of  all 
that  America  stands  for  with  an  influence  that  no 
stranger  could  ever  possess.  Thus  the  service  assigned  to 
Abraham  and  the  promised  land  is  being  performed  in  a 
wondrous  way  and  to  a  mighty  extent.  How  little  we 
know  of  the  methods  by  which  great  and  enduring  things 
are  accomplished  by  the  hand  of  God ! 

The  manifest  destiny  of  America  is  to  be  a  blessing 
in  every  way  and  everywhere  throughout  the  world.  Its 
natural  method  lies  in  development  as  individuals  and  as 
a  social  organism,  and  upon  those  whom  it  can  reach  its 
effect  is  like  leaven  till  all  be  leavened. 

If  this  be  true,  the  privileges  and  duties  are  such  that 
in  them  every  American  has  a  peculiar  interest  and  share. 
The  inherent  principle  lies  in  the  exemplication  of  the 
deep  faith  of  Abraham  and  his  successors  and  the  pure 
life  and  teachings  of  Christ  in  the  life  of  each.  When 
the  generous  and  magnanimous  nation  puts  on  the  whole 
of  the  Christian  life,  strikes,  mobs,  violence,  bribery,  will 
lapse  and  the  world  will  be  redeemed. 

The  sabbath  Millenium,  the  seventh  thousand  years, 
according  to  Bible  chronology,  is  said  to  be  dawning. 
If  this  be  also  true,  we  are  living  in  a  wonderful  period, 
— the  most  interesting,  most  important,  most  active  time 
in  all  the  ages.  A  closer  study  of  the  Bible  will  give  a 
more  lively  and  direct  interest  in  God  and  his  work  in 
the  world  in  past,  present  and  future  and  the  most  patent 
direction  in  relation  to  service. 


